HEARINGS 
before  the 
^UIJITED  STATES  SENATE 
COMMIITEE  ON  APPROPRIATIONS 

6kth  CONGRESS   4?W-^K 


United  States 

Government  Printing  Office 

Washington 


DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA  APPROPRIATION  BILL,  1917 


HEARINGS 

BEFORE  THE 

SUBCOMMITTEE  OF  THE 

COMMITTEE  ON  APPROPRIATIONS 

UNITED  STATES  SENATE 

SIXTY-FOURTH  CONGRESS 
FIRST  SESSION 

* 

OK 


H.  R.  15774 


A  BILL  MAKING  APPROPRIATIONS  TO  PROVIDE  FOR  THE 

EXPENSES  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  DISTRICT 

OF  COLUMBIA  FOR  THE  FISCAL  YEAR  ENDING 

JUNE  30,  1917,  AND  FOR  OTHER  PURPOSES 


Printed  for  the  use  of  the  Committee  on  Appropriations 


jPf*  WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICi 
1910 


SUBCOMMITTEE   OF   THE   COMMITTEE   ON   APPROPRIATIONS. 

JOHN  WALTER  SMITH,  of  Maryland.    Chairman. 
LUKE  LEA,  of  Tennessee.  .JACOB  H.  GALLINGER,  of  Xew  Hampshire. 

ROBERT  L.  OWEN,  of  Oklahoma.  WILLIAM  P.  DILLINGHAM,  of  Vermont. 

JOSEPH  T.  ROBINSON,  of  Arkansas.  CHARLES  CURTIS,  of  Kansas. 

Kexxedy  F.  Re.\,  Clerk. 
2 


DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA  APPROPRIATION  BILL,  1917. 


WEDNESDAY,  MAY  31,   1916. 

The  subcommittee  met  at  10.30  a.  m. 

Present:  Senators  Smith  (chairman),  Lea,  Gallinger,  Dilling- 
ham, and  Curtis. 

Oliver  P.  Xewman,  president  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of 
the  District  of  Columbia ;  Louis  Brownlow,  Commissioner  of  the 
District  of  Columbia ;  Lieut.  Col.  Charles  Kutz,  Corps  of  Engineers, 
Engineer  Commissioner  of  the  District  of  Columbia ;  D.  J.  Donovan, 
secretary  to  the  Board  of  Commissioners:  and  Daniel  E.  Garges, 
chief  clerk  of  the  engineer  department,  appeared. 

STATEMENT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF 
COLUMBIA. 

The  Chairman  (Senator  Smith  of  Maryland).  Gentlemen,  we 
assume  that  you  have  gone  through  the  pending  District  of  Co- 
lumbia appropriation  bill,  and  before  Tve  proceed  as  a  subcommittee 
with  the  bill  we  would  like  to  hear  what  you  have  to  say,  pro  or 
con,  in  regard  to  it.  so  that  we  may  be  informed  of  your  views. 

Commissioner  Xewmax,  Mr.  Chairman,  do  j^ou  desire  us  to  take 
up  the  items  in  their  order? 

Senator  Smith.  Yes :  I  think  you  had  better  go  right  on.  Do  you 
not  think  that  is  the  better  plan.  Senator  Gallinger? 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  think  that  would  be  the  better  plan. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Do  you  care  to  have  any  statement  from 
us  on  the  legislative  provision? 

Senator  Smith.  Yes;  that  is  at  the  beginning  of  the  bill. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes:  it  begins  on  the  first  page,  the 
change  from  the  half-and-half  to  the  manner  in  which  the  House 
proposes  the  appropriations  shall  be  made. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  is  such  a  violent  change  that  I  think  the 
commissioners  ought  to  be  very  frank  about  the  matter. 

Senator  Smith.  Very  frank. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  "\Ye  will  be  verv  glad  to  give  our  views 
fully. 

As  you  all  know  there  was  a  joint  committee  of  Congress  that 
investigated  the  fiscal  relations  last  fall.  They  held  a  very  long 
series  of  hearings.  At  those  hearings  the  commissioners  appeared 
and  presented  their  opinion  as  to  the  fiscal  relations,  and  suggested 
changes :  and  the  provision  as  embodied  in  the  bill  as  passed  by  the 
House  is  to  a  very  great  extent  similar  to  the  suggestion  as  to  fiscal 
relations  made  bv  the  two  civilian  meml^ers  of  the  board  of  commis- 

3 


4  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATJOX    BILL^  1917. 

sioners.  There  is  this  difference:  We  realized  for  some  time  that  it 
was  probable  that  a  change  in  the  fiscal  relations  would  occur  in  the 
near  future  because  of  the  conditions  obtaining  and  revolving  about 
those  fiscal  relations.  We  felt  that  particularly  because  under  the 
rigid  tax  rate  of  $1.50  a  hundred,  which  Avas  fixed  b}^  act  of  Congress 
and  has  not  been  changed  for  35  yeai's,  the  amount  of  revenues  raised 
from  District  property-  automatically  increased  without  any  bearing 
upon  the  amount  of  appropriations  to  be  made  for  the  District.  In 
the  last  few  years  that  rigid  tax  rate  had  automatically  produced  con- 
siderably more  money  than  the  District's  half  of  the  annual  budget. 
Anticipating  that,  seeing  that  coming,  we  felt  that  if  that  surplus 
got  very  large  other  changes  would  be  very  likely  to  come. 

You  are  familiar,  of  course  Avith  the  efforts  to  make  a  change  that 
have  been  made  for  the  last  several  years,  particularly  in  the  House 
of  Representatives.  So  we  devoted  a  good  deal  of  stucly  and  thought 
and  investigation  to  the  question  to  the  end  that  Ave  'might  be  pre- 
pared to  give  our  opinions  to  the  joint  committee  if  they  were 
requested. 

The  opinions  Avere  requested,  and  the  plan  Avhich  Mr.  BroAvnloAV 
and  I  recommended  Avas  that  Congress  ascertain,  by  whatever  in- 
A^estigation  Congress  chose  to  adopt,  Avhat  a  fair  rate  of  taxation 
Avoulcl  be  in  Washington  compared  Avith  other  cities  of  comparable 
size — that  is.  that  Congress  might  have  the  Census  Bureau  make 
an  investigation  to  ascertain  Avhat  could  be  a  fair  tax  rate  for  the 
city  of  Washing-ton. 

Senator  S3iith.  For  the  citizens  of  the  city  of  Washingion? 

Commissioner  Neav3ian.  For  the  citizens  of  the  city  of  Washing- 
ton. We  felt  that  one  living  in  Washington  should  be  willing,  and 
Ave  believe  that  they  are  Avilling.  to  pay  taxes  fairly  comparable  Avith 
the  taxes  paid  anywhere  else.  Every  person  pays  taxes  for  the  bene- 
fits of  the  government  Avhich  he  receives. 

Senator  Lea.  May  I  ask  do  you  propose  to  compare  it  to  the  city 
tax  rate  in  other  municipalities  or  to  the  entire  tax  rate  in  other 
municipalities? 

Commissioner  Neavman.  I  would  compare  it  to  the  entire  taxes 
paid,  and  Congress,  having  ascertained  Avhat  a  fair  tax  Avould  be 
for  the  city  of  Washington,  would  establish  it. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  mean  the  rate? 

Commissioner  Neavman.  Congress  would  establish  a  rate  that 
Avould  produce  a  fair  tax. 

Senator  Smith.  A  fair  tax  for  the  residents  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  ? 

Commissioner  Neavman.  Yes,  sir.  Then,  our  proposal  Avas  that 
the  money  collected  by  that  tax  should  be  deposited  in  the  Treasury 
of  the  United  States  to  the  credit  of  miscellaneous  receipts,  just  as 
the  postal  receij)ts.  the  income  tax,  the  customs  receipts,  and  the 
internal  revenues  are  deposited,  and  that  the  appropriations  for  the 
District  of  Columbia  should  then  be  made  from  any  money  in  the 
Treasury  not  otherAvise  appropriated,  and  that  Ave  forget  this  ques- 
tion of  proportions  about  Avhich  there  hifs  been  so  much  feeling 
between  some  Members  of  Congress  and  some  of  the  people  of  the 
District  of  Columbia.  We  felt  that  if  that  could  be  clone  it  would 
to  a  very  great  extent  remove  the  bone  of  contention  which  seems 
to  have  required  a  lot  of  chewing  in  the  last  feAv  years. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  5 

The  provision  as  it  has  passed  the  House  is,  in  etTect,  that  pro- 
posal, but  in  the  manner  in  which  it  is  done  it  is  a  little  dift'erent. 
The  House  provision  in  the  first  place  continues  the  $1.50  tax  rate. 

Senator  Curtis.  Which  is  too  high  ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  I  would  not  sa}^  so,  Senator. 

Senator  Curtis.  I  thought  you  said  it  Avas  producing  too  much 
revenue. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  It  is  producing  too  much  money  under  the 
half-and-half  arrangement. 

Senator  Curtis.  I  see. 

Commissioner  Xewjiax.  Whether  it  is  fair  as  comparable  with 
other  cities  would  require  a  very  careful  and  very  exhaustive  in- 
vestigation, which  we  have  not  had  the  facilities  or  the  means  or  the 
time  to  make. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Or  the  authority. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Well,  of  course,  we  could  make  it  without 
authority  if  we  had  time,  if  one  of  us  had  time  to  get  on  a  train  and 
go  all  over  the  country. 

The  House  provision  requires  that  such  money  as  is  raised  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  by  the  $1.50  a  hundred  rate  shall  be  deposited 
in  the  Treasury  and  shall  be  expended  to  pay  the  District  appropria- 
tions as  far  as  it  is  available,  and  that  the  Government  shall  make 
up  the  difference  between  those  District  revenues  and  the  total  of 
the  bill. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Is  not  that  substantially  your  suggestion? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  It  is,  substantially,  as  I  said;  in  effect  it 
is.  but  our  feeling  is  that  it  may  retain  at  least  a  part  of  the  cause 
of  argument,  the  question  of  the  proportion,  as  to  how  much  the 
District  is  paying  and  how  much  the  General  Government  is  paying. 

Senator  Gallixger.  According  to  the  House  bill,  the  way  it  will 
operate  the  coming  fiscal  year  the  District  will  pay  something  like 
$8,000,000  and  the  Government  will  be  called  upon  for  a  little  over 
$3,000,000. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes;  as  the  bill  passed  the  House. 

Senator  Smith.  That  depends  entirely  upon  the  disposition  of 
Congress  to  make  improvements  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Commissioner  Xewmax,  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  S^iith.  If  appropriations  for  improvements  that  are  nec- 
essary and  ought  to  be  made  were  granted  probably  the  Government 
would  pay  an  amount  equal  to  the  amount  paid  by  the  District  of 
Columbia.  I  believe  if  the  recommendations  of  the  commissioners 
had  been  granted  the  amount  that  the  citizens  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  would  pay  and  the  amount  paid  by  the  Government  would 
be  almost  equal.    Would  it  not  I 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  There  would  not  be  much  difference? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Xo,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  It  would  almost  make  a  half-and-half  appropria- 
tion? 

Commissioner  Xew^iax.  Almost :  it  would  be  about  $8,000,000  and 
$7,000,000. 

Senator  Smith.  And  the  House  cut  it  down  to  about  $4,018,000,  I 
believe. 


b  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPKTATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  I  feel  very  strongly.  hoAvever,  that  this 
is  the  National  Capital,  that  this  is  the  National  City.  There  are 
350,000  people  who  live  here,  bnt  primarily  this  i^  the  National 
Capital.  Congress  under  the  Constitution  has  exclusive  authority 
over  the  District  of  Columbia.  Congress  exercises  exclusive  author- 
ity and  certainly  for  many,  many  years  to  come  Congress  will  con- 
tinue to  exercise  exclusive  authority  over  it.  In  other  words,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  has  run  this  city  and  it  is  going 
to  continue  to  run  the  city. 

Senator  Smith.  It  ought  to  run  it. 

Commissioner  NEw:tiAX.  It  ought  to  run  this  city:  and  it  has  the 
responsibility  for  running  the  city  under  the  Constitution  and  vari- 
ous acts  of  Congress.  It  is  going  to  do  that  at  least  for  a  long, 
long  time.  We  feel,  however,  that  the  financial  responsibility  should 
be  wholly  on  the  Government,  and  made  to  harmonize  with  all  the 
Government's  other  responsibilities;  that  instead  of  our  having  con- 
tinual wrangles  here  about  Avhether  the  Government  should  pay  one- 
half  and  the  District  one-half,  or  the  Government  one-third  and 
the  people  of  the  District  two-thirds,  or  the  people  of  the  District 
one-third  and  the  Government  two-thirds — instead  of  this  continual 
bickering  over  the  question  of  percentage — we  felt  that  Congress 
should  simply  carefully  determine,  in  its  opinion,  as  to  what  a  fair 
rate  of  taxation  would  be  for  the  people  of  Washington,  so  that  the 
tax  Avould  be  a  payment  which  they  would  make  for  the  privilege 
of  living  here,  and  then  forget,  if  possible,  how  much  of  a  tax  that 
is,  whether  it  is  one-half  or  one-third  or  four-fifths,  but  to  put  it 
into  the  Treasury  along  with  all  the  other  money  of  the  ITnited 
States,  and  then  for  Congress  to  make  all  the  appropriations  for 
the  District  of  Columbia  from  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  other- 
Avise  appropriated. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Mr.  Newman,  on  that  point,  it  appears  to  me — 
and  I  made  the  suggestion  last  year — that  with  the  system  Avhich  has 
been  inaugurated  noAv,  taking  the  revenue  of  the  District  and  apply- 
ing it  in  whole,  the  Federal  Government  appropriating  whatever 
may  be  needed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  District  as  Congress 
deems  wise,  it  Avould  inevitably  result  in  taking  all  the  District  reve- 
nues and  such  portion  of  the  Federal  revenues  as  an  economical  Con- 
gress might  choose  to  appropriate.  That  is  exactly  what  has  hap- 
pened in  this  case.  Considering  the  situation  as  it  confronts  us  to- 
day, is  there  any  hope,  in  your  opinion,  of  Congress  being  able  at 
this  late  day  to  harmonize  the  matter  so  that  we  can  wisely  and 
fairh'  decide  upon  a  system  different  from  the  half-and-half  system 
this  year?  In  other  words,  does  it  not  strike  you,  as  it  strikes  me, 
that  we  shall  inevitably  be  driven  to  restore  the  old  system  for  one 
year  more  and  then  endeavor  to  work  out  the  plan  that  you  'suggest 
or  that  may  be  suggested  by  other  people  ? 

Commissioner  Bkownlow.  If  I  may  be  permitted 

Commissioner  Neavman.  Certainly. 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  Under  the  current  approiu-iation  there 
is  really  no  adherence  to  the  half-and-half  ):)rinciple.  The  people  of 
the  District  pay  about  66  per  cent  and  the  Government  about  34  per 
cent.  There  is  no  provision  Avhereby  that  surplus  can  be  restored  to 
any  District  account.  There  is  no  account  in  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment of  District  of  Columbia  revenues  under  the  laAv  noAv. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  7 

A  great  deal  of  data  was  submitted  to  the  joint  coimuittee  on 
fiscal  relations.  The  joint  committee  sat  here  for  two  months  and 
M  ent  into  the  whole  question  at  length,  and  devoted  a  great  deal  of 
time  and  thought  to  it.  I  think  its  finding  that  the  present  taxa- 
tion of  the  District  of  Columbia  is  fair  and  compares  favorably 
and  equitably  with  other  cities  of  like  size  ought  to  have  a  great 
deal  of  weight.  If  this  change  is  to  be  made  it  would  be  better  to 
make  it  in  some  such  fashion  as  is  now  proposed  and  leave  the 
ouestion  of  a  readjustment  of  tax  rates  until  some  future  day,  pos- 
sihly  the  time  of  the  next  decennial  census,  but  let  the  tax  system 
go  on  as  it  is  now  undisturbed. 

The  only  suggestion  I  have  to  make  is  that  if  this  is  done  the 
primary  obligation  for  the  support  of  the  District  government  ought 
to  be  upon  the  Xation  and  not  upon  the  District. 

The  way  the  bill  now  reads  the  District  people  have  the  primary 
obligation :  in  other  words,  their  money  is  to  be  first  exhausted,  and 
after  it  is  exhausted  then  Congress  comes  along  to  supply  the 
deficit  from  the  Federal  funds.  I  think  it  should  really  be  turned 
around ;  and  the  recommendation  the  fiscal  committee  made  would 
turn  it  around.  Let  the  revenues  collected  here  go  into  the  Federal 
Treasury,  and  let  the  appropriations  be  made  from  any  money  in 
the  Treasury  not  otherwise  expended,  so  that  the  appropriation  for 
the  District  of  Columbia  would  be  exactly  like  an  appropriation 
for  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  It  would  come  out  of 
any  funds  without  regard  to  their  origin,  without  regard  to  the 
taxes  paid  by  the  people  here,  merely  as  a  sort  of  privilege  tax  for 
the  privilege  they  have  of  residing  here. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  difficulty  about  that  is  what  I  endeavored 
to  point  out.  Perhaps  I  did  not  make  it  clear.  I  have  believed  that 
we  ought  to  appropriate  a  considerably  larger  sum  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  appropriation  bill  than  we  have  done  during  the  last  few 
years.  As  an  illustration,  I  was  in  favor  of  matching  the  District 
funds  last  year  Avith  the  same  amount  from  the  Federal  Treasury. 
But  an  economical  Congress  would  not  agree  to  that.  They  cut  your 
estimates  down  precisely  as  they  have  done  this  year.  They  have 
cut  your  estimates  down  about  $4,000,000  this  year,  taking  that 
amount  off  your  estimates.  If  Congress  would  make  an  appropria- 
tion substantially  equal  to  the  money  collected  from  the  citizens  and 
paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  there  would  be  greater 
equity  in  it  and  we  would  get  better  results.  There  are  vast  improve- 
ments needed  in  the  cit}-  of  Washington  that  this  bill  does  not  recog- 
nize at  all. 

Commissioner  Xewmax,  That  is  true.  Senator. 

Senator  (t.nllixger.  And  it  is  a  mei'e  ouestion  as  to  whether  there 
is  any  escape  from  what  the  House  of  Representatives  has  put  up 
to  us.  that  the  District  of  Columl^ia  shall  be  assessed  something  over 
$8,000,000  and  the  Federal  Government  $4,000,000  to  carry  on  the 
afi'airs  of  the  District  for  the  next  fiscal  year. 

Senator  Lea.  Is  not  the  proportion  of  60  and  34  the  basis  of  the 
ap])rcpriations  made  by  the  House  in  the  bill  rather  than  your  esti- 
mates? 

Commissioner  Brownloav.  Xo:  I  speak  of  the  existing  law,  the 
current  appropriation  act. 


8  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Smith.  The  proportion  of  GO  to  34  is  the  recommendation 
of  the  House,  not  the  recommendation  made  by  the  commissioners. 

Senator  Lea.  That  is  what  I  thought. 

Senator  S:mitii.  If  the  estimate  made  l)y  the  commissioners  would 
be  adhei'ed  to  it  would  be  almost  half  and  half,  would  it  not  ( 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Almost:  this  year  and  last. 

Conmiissioner  Xewmax.  There  is  one  point  in  connection  with 
what  3'^ou  said.  Senator,  that  I  would  like  to  say  a  word  on.  How- 
ever, we  do  not  want  to  take  advantage  of  this  opportunity  unless 
you  deem  it  material  and  want  to  hear  us. 

Senator  (tallixger.  This  a  xery  important  matter. 

Senator  Smith.  It  is  an  important  matter,  and  we  want  all  the 
light  on  it  we  can  get. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  It  seems  to  me  there  is  a  fu.ndamental 
economic  objection  to  your  suggestion.  Senator  Gallinger.  that  the 
Government  should  put  in  dollar  for  dollar.  The  objection  is  this: 
The  proper  angle  on  Avhich  to  approach  the  making  of  appropria- 
tions or  expenditures  for  any  community  is  the  needs  of  the  com- 
munit}^  and  not  that  because  $8,000,000  was  raised  in  the  District. 
Congress  should  appropriate  $8,000,000. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  will  say  in  justification  of  my  view  that  I 
did  not  mean  that  we  should  dump  in  a  similar  amount  without 
careful  consideration  of  the  matter. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  I  am  not  thinking  so  much  about  what 
was  in  your  mind  as  of  the  position  that  appears  to  be  assumed. 
The  real  interest,  the  real  motive,  the  development  of  these  things, 
the  needs,  are  likely  to  be  regarded  as  secondary  to  a  tax  such  as  is 
suggested,  whereas  the  needs  ought  to  be  the  primary  considera- 
tion. I  think  there  is  this  objection  to  it  also  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  commissioners  who  make  the  estimates.  Every  other  city  in 
the  country  makes  up  its  budget  ahnost  exclusively  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  anticipated  needs  of  the  city.  The  budget  committee 
or  the  city  council  views  the  situation  at  the  beginning  of  the  year 
and  makes  an  estimate  of  the  needs.  Then  after  determining  that 
they  fix  a  tax  rate  to  produce  sufficient  revenue  to  meet  those  needs. 

Xow,  here  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  Ijecause  of  our  curious 
status,  the  mental  attitude  of  the  commissioner  who  is  to  make  the 
estimate  may  be  this:  That  when  he  sits  down  to  make  up  his 
estimate  he  'might  verv  easily  sav,  "  Well,  we  are  going  to  have 
$16,000,000  next  year,  how  shall  we  spend  it  ? "'  Instead  of  approach- 
ing it  from  the  standpoint  of  the  needs,  he  may  be  inclined  to  ap- 
])i-oach  it  from  the  standpoint.  '•  AVe  have  all  this  money  here  now. 
what  shall  we  put  in  to  absorb  all  that  money?  "  AVe  try  to  take  the 
other  attitude— approaching  it  from  the  standpoint  of  the  needs  of 
the  conununity.  I  have  no  doubt  we  are  influenced,  consciously  or 
unconsciously."  by  the  fact  that  there  is  this  large  amount  of  money 
availal)le  if  "the  half-and-half  principle  continues.  It  seems  to  me 
the  tendency  would  be  to  encourage  the  people  who  make  the  esti- 
mates to  be  "extravagant,  whereas  they  should,  of  course,  be  properly 
economical. 

Now,  I  should  like  to  say  just  a  word  briefly  on  another  point.  I 
Avish  to  state  my  feeling  about  the  half-and-half  principle.  If  you 
will  examine  the  original  act  of  1878.  you  will  find  that  the  thought 
in  the  mind  of  Congress  and  the  stii)ulation  in  the  act  in  exact  words 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  9 

Avns  that  the  commissioners  should  prepare  estimates  annually  for 
the  needs  of  the  District,  and  to  the  extent  to  which  Congress  ap- 
proves those  estimates  Congress  will  appropriate  oO  per  cent  thereof — 
this  is  not  the  exact  phraseology,  but  it  is  almost — "  and  by  appro- 
priate taxation  upon  the  property  and  privileges  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  Congress  shall  lew  taxes  that  will  produce  the  other  half 
of  it." 

That  act  contemplated  that  Congress  would  every  year  fix  a  tax  in 
the  District  of  Columbia  that  would  produce  the  other  half  of  that 
annual  budget.  But  very  soon  thereafter  Congress  fixed  a  rate  of 
$1.50  a  hundred,  which  Avas  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  District's  half. 
It  happened  that  that  was  not  enough  to  meet  the  District's  half,  and 
then  Congress  apparently  forgot  the  original  theory  of  the  half-and- 
half  plan,  which  was  that  they  each  year  should  impose  taxes  that 
would  produce  the  District's  half.  Congress  went  on  appropriating 
as  if  the  rate  of  $1.50  a  hundred  was  a  fixed,  rigid  thing  which  could 
not  be  changed. 

Senator  Gallinger.  And  loaned  money  to  the  District  to  make  up 
the  other  half. 

Commissioner  Newmax.  And  would  make  a  loan  to  the  District 
at  2  per  cent  to  make  up  the  deficiency  in  its  half.  As  long  as  the 
dollar  and  a  half  a  hundred  produced  less  than  the  District's  half, 
of  course,  the  system  worked  fine,  but  in  the  last  few  years,  as  prop- 
erty values  have  increased  and  the  dollar  and  a  half  a  hundred  has 
remained  in  operation,  it  has  produced  more  than  the  District's  half. 
If  Congress  had  consistently  and  logically  followed  the  theory  of  the 
half-and-half  act  of  1878.  when  it  saw  that  the  tax  rate  of  a  dollar 
and  a  half  a  hundred  was  producing  more  than  the  District's  lialf.  it 
would  have  reduced  that  rate:  in  other  words,  it  would  have  carried 
out  the  original  theory,  which  was  to  fix  a  rate  that  would  produce 
the  District's  half.  Instead  of  that  it  left  a  rate  which  produces  more 
than  the  District's  half. 

XoAv.  that  surplus  of  purely  District  revenues  the  1st  of  July  will 
be  nearly  $2,000,000,  and  it  is  that  surplus  which  has  created  in  the 
minds  of  many  Members  of  the  House  the  feeling  that  the  United 
States  Avas  paying  too  much. 

It  seems  to  me  that  there  are  only  two  theories  upon  which  you  can 
justify  a  continuance  of  the  half-and-half  principle.  One  is  the 
theory — a  logical  theory — of  imposing  a  tax  rate  each  year  that  will 
produce  the  District's  half  and  no  more. 

Senator  Cfrtis.  In  other  words,  to  carry  out  the  letter  of  the  law. 

Commissioner  Newmax.  To  carry  out  the  letter  of  the  original  law. 
The  other  theory  is  for  Congress  to  appropriate  twice  as  much  every 
}'ear  as  the  $1.50  a  hundred  produces.  It  seems  to  me  that  you  have 
got  to  take  one  or  the  other  of  these  theories  in  order  to  justify  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  rate. 

Senator  Gallixoer.  Mr.  Xewman,  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me 
that  you  can  not  reduce  the  rate  without  a  riot  in  Congress. 

Commissioner  Xew^iax.   I  think  not. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  think  Congress  feels  that  the  present  rate  in 
the  District  is  not  excessive. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Yes. 

Senator  Gallixger.  So.  if  we  undertook  to  reduce  it  it  would  give 
us  more  trouble  than  we  have  now. 


10  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith.  Your  view  in  this  matter  is  that  the  people  of  the 
District  ought  to  pay  a  proper  tax  rate  ^ 

Connnissioner  Xewmax.  Yes.  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  That  is  their  duty  to  pay  that  tax  ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes.  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  And  that  the  rate  Avhich  is  fixed  is  not  excessive? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Yes.  sir.  I  think  you  couki  adopt  it  as 
the  opinion  of  Mr.  Brownlow  and  myself  that  the  present  tax  rate 
is  not  excessive.  Yon  miLdit  incorporate  a  direction  to  the  Director 
of  the  Census  to  make  a  report  to  some  future  Congress  on  that 
question.  It  seems  to  me  that  that  would  be  about  the  best  govern- 
mental agency  to  do  it. 

Senator  Smith.  I  understand  that  the  investigation  of  the  com- 
mittee appointed  to  look  into  the  matter  proved  that  property  here 
was  not  undertaxed. 

Commisioner  Xeavmax.  "Well.  I  do  not  think  it  was  quite  so  broad 
as  that. 

Commissioner  Browxloav.  They  said  the  rate  was  fair. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  They  said  the  assessment  was  e(iuitable 
and  that  the  taxes  per  capita  in  the  District  of  Columbia  would 
compare  favorably  Avith  those  of  other  cities  of  similar  size.  I  think 
that  is  almost  the  exact  wording. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  There  is  an  important  point  in  that 
connection  to  be  stated.  Their  conclusion  was  based  largely  on  the 
per  capita  tax  burden,  but  if  you  leave  the  rate  as  it  is  now.  and 
the  assessment  as  it  is  now.  and  broaden  the  basis  of  taxation,  say. 
for  instance,  you  include  intangible  personal  property.  I  think  the 
present  rate  would  be  excessive.  On  the  present  basis  of  taxation 
the  tax  burden  as  at  present  distributed  is  the  thing  that  was  found 
to  be  fair  and  equitable  by  the  joint  fiscal  committee,  but  if  you  were 
to  add  se\eral  million  dollars  to  the  assessed  valuation  by  reason  of 
including  intangible  personalty,  then  with  that  rate  the  tax  burden 
would  be  excessive  as  compared  with  other  cities.  Practically,  in 
my  o]:)inion.  the  only  way  to  find  a  comi)arable  factor  is  to  take  one 
city  and  compare  it  Avith  another,  by  taking  the  total  tax  liurden 
of  the  community  and  dividing  it  by  the  number  of  i)e<)]de  and  so 
get  the  \)ev  capita  tax  burden.  That  Avas  the  method  followed  by 
the  joint  fiscal  committee. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  It  seems  to  me  the  easiest  and  simplest 
way  to  handle  this  matter  at  this  time  is  this:  You  take  the  current 
law.  I  am  reading  noAv  from  our  estimates,  Avhich  quote  the  current 
laAv.     The  very  first  paragraph  is: 

Be  it  cufictcd  hy  the  Senate  and  Houfte  of  Rei)i(xentatire.'<  of  the  I'nifcd  Sfuteft 
of  A)nerif(i  in  Co)ifiref<fi  anftemltled.  Tliat  one-half  the  foUowiiiL'  siinisr  res;])ef- 
tiA-ely.  i>;  !ii»l>i"'>I'i"'ate<l.  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  otlierwise  api)ro- 
priated.  and  the  other  half  out  of  the  revenues  of  the  District  of  Coluinhia.  in 
full  for  the  followintr  expenses  of  the  government  of  tlie  District  of  Columbia 
for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred  and  seventeen. 

Senator  Curtis.  That  is  existing  laAv? 

Commissioner  XEAv:\rAX.  That  is  existing  laAv.  Xow,  this  sugges- 
tion of  Mr.  BroAvnloAv's  and  mine  can  be  accomi)lished  by  this  htn- 
guage : 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  Houxr  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America  in  Congress  assembled.  That  the  following  sums  are  appropriated. 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  11 

out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  otlierwise  appropriated,  in  full  for  tlie 
following  expenses  of  the  government  of  tlie  District  of  Columbia. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Under  those  circumstances  we  might  just  as 
well  leave  the  laAv  as  the  House  of  Representatives  has  sent  it  to  us. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  would  have  to  add  a  further  provision  there 
that  the  taxes  collected  should  be  paid  into  the  Treasui\y. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  No,  sir ;  that  is  already  covered. 

Senator  Curtis.  Oh.  I  see. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Senator,  Mr.  Brownlow  discovered  a  very 
interesting  condition  on  that  point  when  we  were  preparing  for  ap- 
pearance before  this  committee.  That  is  that  the  money  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  collected  here  now  for  all  purposes — all  of  our 
taxes  on  property  and  privileges  and  franchises  and  everything — 
is  now.  and  has  been  ever  since  1878,  deposited  in  the  United  States 
Treasury  to  the  credit  of  miscellaneous  receipts,  and  all  of  the  bills 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  are  paid  from  money  not  otherwise 
appropriated.  There  is  no  account  of  the  District  of  Columbia  in 
the  Treasurv  Department. 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo:  but  there  is  in  the  District  Building. 

Commissioner  Xew:man.  In  the  District  Building:  yes. 

Senator  Curtis.  Xot  in  the  Treasury :  but  there  is  in  the  District 
Building  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith.  The  languag-e  you  have  read  is  practically  what 
the  House  has  inserted  in  this  bill. 

Commissioner  X^ewman.  Except  that  they  provide  that  this  money 
collected  in  the  District  shall  be  set  aside  in  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment and  used  as  long  as  there  is  any  of  it,  and  that  when  that  is 
all  spent  then  the  Government  shall  make  up  the  difference;  and  my 
fear  is  that  that  will  continue  the  purely  psychological  difference 
between  Congress  and  the  people  of  the  District. 

Senator  Curtis.  The  House  provision  specifically  provides  that 
"  hereafter ""  this  shall  be  done,  so  as  to  make  it  permanent. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes. 

Senator  Curtis.  Of  course  we  could  change  it  in  the  next  appro- 
priation bill:  but  if  we  do  not  change  it  the  wording  makes  it 
permanent  law. 

Commissioner  Neavman.  Oh,  yes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Mr.  Newman,  of  course  we,  as  Senators  are 
primarily  representatives  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  ordinarily 
we  would  not  be  worrying  about  the  District  of  Columbia ;  we  would 
be  taking  care  of  the  Government.  But  some  of  use  are  disturbed 
over  the  situation  notAvithstanding,  feeling  that  under  the  bill  as  it 
comes  from  the  House  of  Rejn-esentatives  there  is  not  a  fair  division 
of  the  tax  burdens,  as  Ave  look  at  it.  Noav,  if  you  gentlemen,  repre- 
senting the  District  sovernment.  are  satisfied  Avith  this  division  of 
$8,000,000  from  the^  treasury  of  the  District  of  Columl)ia  and 
four  million  from  the  (Tovernment — or  possibly  Ave  may  add  a  little 
to  this,  but  it  will  not  be  a  great  deal — naturally  Ave  ought  not  to 
worry  oAer  it;  but  it  seems  to  me  there  must  be  some  more  equitable 
division  of  the  tax  burdens  in  this  Capital  City  of  the  Nation  than 
that. 

Next  year  you  may  raise  ten  millions,  and  probably  Avill.  and  an 
economical    Congress   Avill    cut    doAvn    your   appropi-iations.      They 


12  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

have  cut  them  four  millions  this  year;  they  will  cut  them  again  next 
year,  and  the  Government  will  only  have  to  add  a  couple  of  millions — 
ten  from  the  treasury  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  two  from 
the  Federal  Treasury — and  so  it  will  go,  so  that  in  a  little  while, 
if  you  continue  to  raise  more  money  b}^  taxation  from  year  to  year, 
as  naturally  you  will  in  a  growino 
in  time  escape  all  responsibility. 

Senator  Smith.  According  to  the  argument  of  Senator  Gallinger. 
the  Congress  may  be  so  economical  that  the  amount  of  mone}'  raised 
b}^  the  citizens  of  the  District  of  Columbia  will  meet  all  the  obliga- 
tions, and  the  Government  will  pay  nothing. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  That  may  be  so,  and  to  an  extent  the  appropria- 
tions have  been  cut  down,  about  $4,000,000.  It  is  brought  down  to 
two-thirds  and  one-third  now.  Congress  might  continue  to  be  still 
further  economical,  with  the  taxes  increasing  all  the  time,  until  the 
Government  would  have  nothing  to  pay.  That  is  what  might  result 
from  it. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Yes.  sir.  Xoav,  Senator,  suppose  that  you 
retain  the  half-and-half  principle.  That  same  identical  result  would 
happen,  because  this  surplus  over  the  District's  half,  once  it  goes 
into  the  Treasury,  is  gone.  It  is  no  longer  the  District's  money.  It 
goes  to  the  credit  of  miscellaneous  receipts,  and  nothing  can  get  it  to 
the  credit  of  the  District  or  spent  for  -the  District  but  an  act  of  Con- 
gress. On  the  1st  of  July,  if  we  have  a  surplus  of  $2,000,000  of  Dis- 
trict money  lying  in  the  Treasury,  that  is  gone  so  far  as  the  District 
is  concerned.    It  goes  to  the  United  States. 

Senator  Lea.  Mr.  Xewman,  this  seems  to  me  to  be  the  objection 
to  your  theory :  The  attitude  of  the  House  of  Representatives  is  not 
hostility  to  the  form  in  which  the  Government  contributes,  but  it  is 
to  the  amount  that  the  Government  contributes.  As  Senator  Gal- 
linger says,  with  the  taxes  of  the  growing  city  increasing,  the  atti- 
tude of  the  House  of  Representatives  is  going  to  be  continually  to 
limit  all  appropriations  to  the  amount  of  taxes  raised;  and  so  each 
year,  instead  of  having  a  fight  over  the  form  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment's proportion,  it  is  going  to  be  over  each  and  every  real  improve- 
ment that  is  contemplated  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes.  sir. 

Senator  Lea.  So  that  the  improvement  and  the  development  of 
Washington  as  the  Capital  of  this  Nation,  of  which  we  are  all  so 
])roud,  is  going  to  be  halted? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes,  sir;  but  you  are  going  to  have  that 
anyway,  and  the  retention  of  the  half-and-half  principle  will  not 
make  a  particle  of  difference. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  quite  surprise  me  in  saying  that  tl),e  sur- 
plus that  now  accrues  to  the  District,  because  of  the  fact  that  we  have 
not  appropriated  enough  to  exhaust  it,  goes  into  the  Federal  Treas- 
ury. 

Commissioner  Ni:w:\ian.  It  does  not  accrue.  Senator. 

Senator  Gallinger.  "Well,  it  exists. 

Commissioner  Newman.  It  does  not  even  exist  in  an  account,  ex- 
cept in  our  building.  It  does  not  even  exist  as  an  account  in  the 
Treasurv  Building. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  13 

Senator  Gallixger.  "Well,  we  will  not  be  technical  about  words, 
but  the  fact  remains  that  there  is  a  surplus  of  District  funds. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Xo;  it  is  not  a  technicality.  Senator.  It 
is  the  literal  fact. 

Commissioner  Browxluw.  How  can  it  ever  be  used  except  by  an  ap- 
propriation by  Congress!' 

Col.  KuTz.  It  ought  to  be  used  to  pay  the  indebtedness  of  the 
District. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  It  could  be,  very  properly. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  is  what  I  supposed.  I  supposed  the 
surplus  yon  were  accumulating  would  automatically  be  used  by  the 
District  to  meet  its  financial  obligations  in  the  matter  of  paying  its 
debts. 

Commissioner  Newmax.  Xo,  sir.  I  supposed,  when  I  first  looked 
into  it.  that  the  surplus  we  would  carry  over  and  report  as  income 
for  the  following  year. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  will  be  remembered  that  two  or  three  years 
ago — I  am  not  very  positive  as  to  the  date — the  House  of  Kepresenta- 
tives  put  an  item  in  the  bill  providing  that  this  money  should  be 
turned  into  the  Federal  Treasury,  but  everybody  said  it  ought  not 
to  be  done;  it  would  not  be  just.  Xow,  you  say  it  goes  there  auto- 
matically ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  The  House  apparently  did  not  know  it. 
The  House  could  have  accomplished,  by  retaining  the  half-and-half 
principle,  exactly  what  it  Avas  trying  to  accomplish  by  section  8  of 
the  bill  two  years  ago. 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  The  practical  effect,  if  you  pass  this 
appropriation  bill  substantially  without  increasing  the  amount, 
would  be  not  to  change  the  existing  law. 

Commissioner  Xew:max.  It  would  not  change  the  proportions  of 
the  Government  or  of  the  District  a  particle. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Mr.  Xewman.  let  me  propound  a  question  to 
you  that  has  impressed  itself  somewhat  upon  my  mind.  Have  you 
not,  under  perhaps  more  or  less  criticism  that  existed  a  few  years 
ago  that  your  assessments  were  too  low,  gone  to  the  other  extreme, 
so  that  you  are  now  assessing  property  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
rather  too  high? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Xo,  sir.  To  half  of  your  question  I  would 
say  "  yes."  Our  assessments  have  been  criticized,  and  they  were 
subject  to  criticism,  not  so  much  that  in  the  bulk  they  were  too  low 
as  that  there  were  inequalities;  in  a  great  many  cases  very  glaring 
inequalities.  Those  have  been  remedied,  but  the  assessment  at  this 
time  is  not  too  high.  It  is  a  very  excellent  assessment.  I  have  been 
familiar  with  the  assessment  of  property  in  numerous  cities  over  the 
country,  and  I  doubt  if  there  is  any  city  where  the  assessment  is  more 
nearly  uniformly  what  the  law  requires  than  here.  There  has  been  a 
very  great  deal  of  criticism  of  us  along  that  line. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  It  is  the  criticism  which  inevitably  fol- 
lows tin  increase;  but  such  increases  as  were  made  were  amply 
justified. 

Senator  Gallixger.  There  is  a  constant  movement  of  i)opulation. 
The  apartment-house  development,  and  the  movement  to  the  sub- 
urban sections  of  Washington,  must  have  reduced  the  value  of  prop- 


14  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

erty  downtown  enormously.  Avhere  the  sign  '•  For  sale  "  or  *"  To  let " 
meets  you  every  time  you  look  up  or  turn  around  or  make  an  obser- 
vation. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  There  are  a  few  sections  where  it  has 
been  reduced. 

Senator  Gallingek,  Have  you  taken  that  into  account  at  all  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Oh.  yes:  yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  And  have  you  made  reductions  in  the  assess- 
ments ( 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes.  sir.  There  is  less  of  that,  however, 
than  you  Avould  anticipate.  "We  will  take  a  section,  say,  like  that 
just  below  Thomas  Circle,  where  the  houses  were  residences  20  years 
ago  and  boarding  houses  10  years  ago.  Between  the  time  when  the 
residents  moved  out  and  the  time  when  the  business  came  up  there 
was  a  deterioration,  but  the  converting  of  the  property  into  business 
uses  has  much  more  than  made  up  the  ditference. 

Senator  Lea.  What  percentage  of  the  market  value  of  real  estate 
is  the  assessment.  ]\lr.  Xewman  ( 

Commissioner  Xeavman.  Two-thirds  of  the  actual  value.  The  law 
says  "  two-thirds  of  the  actual  value,"  and  we  interpret  '•  actual 
value  " 

Col.  KuTz.  Xot  less  than  two-thirds. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Yes:  not  less  than  two-thirds  of  the  actual 
value.  That  has  been  the  law  since  1902.  Soon  after  that  provision 
was  inserted  in  the  law  the  assessors  and  the  commissioners  deter- 
mined to  interpret  that  law,  or  rather  to  use  their  discretion,  if  they 
had  any  under  that  law.  to  put  it  at  two-thirds.  I  think  that  under 
that  provision  the  commissioners  and  the  assessors  would  have  had 
discretion  to  assess  it  at  full  value.  The  laAv  says  "not  less  than 
two-thirds.''  We  have  interpreted  the  phrase  "  actual  value  "  as  it 
has  been  interpreted  for  the  last  few  years  by  intelligent  and  active 
and  honest  assessors  throughout  the  country — an  interpretation 
which  is  becoming  generally  accepted,  not  only  for  assessment  pur- 
poses in  this  country,  but  for  assessment  purposes  all  over  the 
world — as:  As  an  expression  in  dollars  of  the  meeting  of  the  minds 
of  a  seller  willing  but  not  compelled  to  sell  and  of  a  buyer  willing 
but  not  compelled  to  buy.  Of  course  forced  sales  or  foreclosures  or 
cases  where  a  man  had  to  buy  are  in  a  different  category.  If  a  man 
had  a  business  house  and  owned  all  but  20  feet  of  some  place  and  he 
had  to  have  that  20  feet  for  his  business  and  the  man  who  owned 
the  20  feet  should  hold  him  up,  Ave  would  not  consider  the  expression 
of  dollars  in  that  case  as  necessarily  a  correct  indication  of  value. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Just  one  other  question,  Mr.  Xewman,  and  I 
think  I  will  be  through.  We  have  all  been  pretty  busy  men.  as  you 
knoAv,  of  late  years  in  matters  of  legislation.  The  joint  commission 
made  that  investigation.  Their  findings  are  printed  in  two""  large 
volumes.  I  apprehend  that  no  member  of  this  committee  has  waded 
through  the  testimony  or  the  report  of  that  commission. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  I  have  waded  through  the  report. 

Senator  Gallixger.  There  are  gentlemen  in  Washington^r-and  I 
will  mention  Mr.  Theodore  W.  Xoyes  and  ]Mr.  Macfarland — who  say 
that  this  bill  is  a  violent  departure  from  the  recommendations  of  that 
joint  commission.    Have  3'ou  looked  into  that  matter  with  sufficient 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  15 

care  to  tell  the  committee  in  what  important  respects,  if  any,  the  bill 
is  a  departure  from  the  recommendations  of  the  commission? 

Commissioner  Bkowxlow.  I  think,  from  what  I  ha\e  read  of  Mr. 
Macfarland's  interviews  and  Mr.  Xoyes's  editorials,  that  they  base  it 
on  the  theory  that  the  fiscal  committee  recommended  that  the  policy 
of  Congress  should  be  one  of  "*  liberal,  definite,  and  regular  contribu- 
tions,'' and  that  the  House  bill  does  not  reflect  such  a  policy.  The 
three  Members  of  the  House  who  were  members  of  that  joint  com- 
mittee— two  Democrats  and  one  Eepublican — voted  for  the  bill,  and 
voted  against  the  motion  to  recommit  the  bill,  and  supported  this  as 
meeting  their  views.  Two  of  them,  Mr.  Rainey  and  Mr.  Gard.  spoke 
in  favor  of  it.  There  was  one  omission  in  the  bill  with  respect  to  the 
funded  debt  Avhich  the  House  Appropriations  Committee  amended 
to  meet  the  views  of  the  members  of  the  joint  fiscal  committee. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  joint  commission  reported  that  the  funded 
debt — that  is,  the  3.65  bonds 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Should  be  continued  on  the  half-and-half 
principle. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes;  and  this  bill  ignores  that. 

Commissioner  Browxlow,  Xo;  it  does  not  ignore  that. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  They  accepted  an  amendment  to  that  ef- 
fect on  the  floor  of  the  House. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  had  not  observed  that. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  Yes ;  but  as  it  passed  the  House  it  made 
one  change  on  line  6  of  page  1.  It  struck  out  the  word  "and  "  and 
inserted  the  word  ''  except "— "  except  amounts  to  pay  the  interest 
and  sinking  fund  on  the  funded  debt " ;  and  in  another  place  it  pro- 
vided specifically  that  these  payments  should  be  made  on  the  half- 
and-half  basis. 

Senator  Lea.  What  is  the  amount  of  the  funded  debt  of  the  Dis- 
trict, Mr.  Brownlow? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  It  is  now  about  $6,000,000.  If  you 
should  continue  to  appropriate,  as  has  been  done,  $975,000  a  year,  it 
would  be  completely  extinguished  in  192i. 

Senator  Lea.  Was  that  in  the  form  of  bonds  or  in  the  form  of  a 
debt  due  the  Government  ? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  The  3.65  bonds.  What  was  known  as  the 
floating  debt,  consisting  of  the  amounts  advanced  b}'  the  United 
States,  has  all  been  repaid. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  find  that  the  House  did  adopt  an  amend- 
ment providing  that  they  should  be  payable  one-half  out  of  the 
revenues  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  one-half  out  of  any  money 
in  the  Treasury:  so  that,  apparently,  they  cured  it  by  an  amendment 
after  the  bill  was  reported. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  After  the  bill  was  reported. 

Commissioner  Xewmax,  I  think  the  criticism  of  Mr.  Xoyes  and 
Mr.  ]Macfarland,  that  it  is  not  in  conformity  with  the  committee 
report,  must  necessarily  be  that  they  claim  a  departure  in  the  atti- 
tude of  Congress  in  making  appropriations  not  liberal  to  the  Dis- 
trict, because  otherwise  the  House  bill  certainly  substantially  com- 
plies with  the  report. 

Col.  KuTz.  ^Ir.  Chairman,  may  I  say  a  word  on  this  subject? 
]Mr.  Xewman  intimated  that  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  were 
not  in  entire  agreement  on  this  matter.     I  expressed  some  vieAvs 


16  DISTRICT    GIT    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

before  the  joint  committee  that  diifered  somewhat  from  the  views 
shared  by  the  other  two  members  of  the  board  of  commissioners, 
and  I  should  like  to  say  just  a  few  Avords  on  that  subject. 

^^e  are  in  perfect  accord  in  looking-  at  Washington  primarily 
as  the  Capital  of  the  Xation,  and  incidentally  as  the  place  of  resi- 
dence of  360.000  people.  We  believe  that,  due  to  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  fiscal  relation  between  the  United  States  and  the 
District  of  Columbia,  many  things  that  should  have  been  done  for 
the  betterment  of  the  Capital  have  been  left  undone,  and  we  agree 
that  this  condition  ought  to  be  changed.  We  differ  as  to  the  means 
of  accomplishing-  the  change.  My  colleagues  feel  that  this  com- 
munity should  be  financed  primarily  as  a  national  community,  en- 
tirely out  of  the  Federal  Treasury,  the  people  paying  a  proper  tax. 
I  feel  that  the  principle  of  a  fixed  proportion  which  is  embodied 
in  the  organic  act,  and  has  been  the  law  for  practically  37  years,  has 
demonstrated  its  usefulness  and  should  be  retained.  At  the  same 
time,  I  believe  that  the  ratio  ought  to  be  changed;  that  50-50,  while 
it  may  have  been  proper  and  equitable  in  1878,  and  fairly  equitable 
for  37  years,  is  not  now  equitable.  The  community,  in  my  judg- 
ment, is  growing  more  rapidly  than  the  Capital — that  is,  the  com- 
munitv  features  are  growing  more  rapidly  than  the  National  Capi- 
tal features:  and  that  for  this  reason  the  proportion  of  50-50  should 
be  changed.  As  the  result  of  an  investigation  we  could  just  as  well 
now  determine  a  new  proportion  as  our  legislators  determined  the 
present  pro^Dortion  in  1878.  Possibh'  we  have  more  facts  on  which 
we  coulcl  base  the  proper  distribution. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Theirs  was  a  guess,  of  course,  in  making  it 
half-and-half.    They  had  no  facts  upon  which  to  base  it. 

Col.  KuTz.  Naturally,  and  this  would  be  somewhat  of  a  guess. 
W^e  may  not  be  able  to  guess  a  percentage  now  that  would  last  for 
37  years :  but  there  is  no  need  to  do  that.  If  we  should  agree  upon 
a  percentage  and  establish  it,  it  could  be  changed  at  the  end  of  a 
10-year  period,  just  as  our  representation  in  Congress  changes  every 
10  years.  Fluctuations  in  popidation  within  the  10-year  period  do 
not  affect  representation  in  Congress.  Fluctuations  in  values,  in  tax 
receipts,  need  not  affect  the  proportion  for  a  given  period  of  time: 
and,  at  the  end  of  that  period,  in  fixing  a  new  proportion  we  could 
take  into  consideration  any  inequalities  that  had  existed  during  the 
past  10-year  period. 

I  advocate  that  principle  in  the  belief  that  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia will  prosper  and  develop  more  rapidly  and  more  harmoniously 
under  it  than  it  will  under  the  other  system. 

Senator  Gallingek.  What  proportion  would  you  suggest.  Major? 

Col.  KuTz.  I  do  not  like  to  take  the  responsibility  of  suggesting  a 
proportion  without  the  detailed  investigation  that  I  think  ought  to 
be  made;  but  it  might  well  be  fixed  at  60  and  40,  and  left  at  that 
rate  for  a  period  of  years. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  If  that  is  done — if  a  fixed  proportion, 
either  half-and-half  or  another  proportion,  is  determined  upon — I 
think  it  highly  important  that  something  should  be  done  to  make  it 
certain  that  it  Avill  work  in  that  proportion.  Either  the  funds  to 
bring  up  the  District  part  of  it  ought  to  be  raised  by  a  tax  rate, 
determined  after  the  appropriation  is  made,  so  that  you  can  get 
the  amount  required,  or  there  ought  to  be  some  system  whereby  the 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917  17 

surplus  one  year  or  the  deficit  another  year  will  be  carried  on  into 
the  next  year  to  be  made  up. 

At  the  present  time,  under  the  present  huv.  the  current  act  on  the 
statute  books  under  which  we  are  now  operating  and  the  current 
revenues  for  this  fiscal  year  the  actuality  is  not  half  and  half,  as  the 
law  says,  but  60  and  M.  If  the  Government  pays  about  four  millions 
for  the  current  vear.  the  District  revenues  amou.nt  to  about  eight 
millions.  Xow."  there  is  $i.000.000.  '  The  half  of  that  would  be 
about  tvNO  millions  for  the  District,  surplus,  but  it  can  not  be  recov- 
ered for  the  uses  of  the  District  without  a  specific  appropriation  by 
Congress.  I  would  suggest  also  that  if  any  definite  proportion  is  to 
be  established  in  this  bill  as  it  passes,  something  ought  to  be  done  as 
to  the  surplus  that  is  there  now,  and  a  provision  ought  to  be  put  in 
the  bill  allowing  that  to  be  used  to  apply  to  the  funded  debt. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes:  I  think  so.  too. 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  I  think  that  ought  to  be  done,  and  I 
think  it  ought  to  be  done,  even  if  the  fiscal  plan  is  changed,  for  the 
reason  that  the  bill  was  passed  in  good  faith  by  Congress  under  the 
half-and-half  principle. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Of  course,  if  Congress  should  determine 
on  a  fixed  proportion,  as  Col.  Kutz  suggests,  if  there  are  votes 
enough  in  both  Houses  to  do  that,  I  should  imagine  it  would  be  rela- 
tively simple  to  attach  to  it  the  protection  of  any  surplus  such  as 
]Mr.  Brownlow  suggests. 

Commissioner  Browxlow,  I  should  like  to  say  one  thing  further, 
and  that  is.  that  it  has  been  my  belief  and  is  now  my  belief  that  the 
result — and  it  is  a  result  that  I  think  will  be  brought  about  in  a 
comparatively  few  years — of  the  indefinite  proportion  will  be  to 
liberalize  the  attitude  of  Congress  in  making  appropriations  for  the 
District  of  Columbia.  I  believe  that  the  position  I  took  was  in  the 
best  interests  of  the  future  of  the  Xational  Capital. 

Senator  Smith.  One  important  thing,  in  my  opinion,  is  that  there 
ought  to  be  some  arrangement  by  which  Congress  will  be  willing 
to  spend  money  to  beautify  this  city  and  to  make  it  a  city  such  as  it 
should  be.  I  think  that  should  be  the  paramount  object.  Of  course, 
there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  about  it:  but.  speaking  from  a  per- 
sonal standpoint,  if  they  would  spend  the  money  that  is  necessary 
and  creditable  to  this  capital,  I  believe  there  would  not  be  much 
difficulty  about  adjusting  the  proportions. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Xone  at  all. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  I  agree  with  you  absolutely,  Mr.  Chair- 
man. 

Senator  Smith.  Hence.  I  believe  that  Congress  will  be  justified 
in  spending  just  as  much  money  to  improve  this  Capital  as  will  be 
raised  by  a  fair  rate  of  taxation  on  the  people  of  the  District  of 
Columbia.  I  think  to-day  that  there  can  be  enough  money  spent 
properly  to  equalize  all  the  money  that  will  be  collected  on  the  half- 
and-half  plan  from  the  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia :  and  I 
think  that  should  be  the  object  at  which  we  should  aim — to  get  some 
means  by  which  we  can  beautify  this  Capital,  and  give  it  what  it 
ought  to  have.  As  the  fact  is.  I  presume  that  you  gentlemen  in 
making  your  estimates  have  estimated  what  3"ou  actualh"  believe  this 


18  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOK    BILL,  191". 

Capital  ought  to  have.    That  would  almost  eijualize  it  as  it  is  to-day. 
There  would  be  very  little  dilference. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes,  sir:  and  we  left  out  a  great  n:any 
things  that  we  Avould  have  liked  to  include. 

Senator  8:MiTir.  That  is  a  question  that  we  want  to  solve  in  this 
Congress — ^what  is  the  best  way  to  get  at  it. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Of. course,  the  real  difficulty  with  that. 
Senator,  is  that  Congress,  of  course,  as  you  know,  can  not  by  the 
passage  of  any  law  force  any  succeeding  Congress  to  make  an  appro- 
priation that  it  does  not  Avant  to  make,  no  matter  what  the  form  of 
go^  eminent  may  be,  no  matter  what  the  fiscal  relationship  is  legally. 

Senator  Smith.  Of  course  the  argument  is  good  on  the  part  of  you 
gentlemen  that  the  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia  who  live  here 
and  have  the  privileges  they  enjoy  here  ought  to  pay  a  proper  tax: 
but,  as  Senator  (iallinger  goes  on  to  say.  it  could  be  so  fixed  by  Con- 
giess,  in  cutting  down  expenses,  that  the  District  of  Columliia  would 
pa}'  it  all,  and  the  (iovernment  would  pay  none. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes:  and  we  are  confronted  in  this  bill,  Mr. 
Chairman,  with  the  rather  serious  propositi<m  that  the  otlier  House 
has  provided  that  the  revenues  of  the  District  this  year  shall  be  taken 
in  their  entirety,  and  then,  instead  of  being  liberal — as  it  has  been 
suggested  that  it  might  result  in  lilierality — instead  of  being  liberal, 
they  have  cut  olf  four  millicns  from  the  estimates  of  the  counnis- 
sioners,  loading  the  burden  on  the  District,  and  unloading  it  from 
the  Federal  Treasury. 

It  is  an  anomalous  situation.  Of  course,  we  all  know  that  the  other 
House  expect  the  Senate  to  add  a  very  considerable  amount  to  this 
bill,  to  which  they  will  agree  in  part.  In  other  words,  about  half 
that  Ave  add  to  it  will  remain  in  the  bill,  and  the  other  half  will  go 
out  in  conference:  so  that  there  will  be  a  larger  contribution  by  the 
Federal  Government  Avhen  we  get  through  with  the  bill  than  if  we 
leave  it  in  tlie  shape  in  which  it  came  over  from  the  House.  But, 
after  all,  it  is  rather  a  troublesome  situation,  and  one  that  I  think  is 
going  to  increase  rather  than  diminish,  unless  Ave  can  find  some  com- 
mon ground:  and  where  that  common  ground  is  I  do  not  knoAv. 

One  very  important  member  of  the  joint  commission  has  said  that 
this  bill  is  a  violent  departure  from  the  recommendations  of  the  joint 
commission :  that  they  never  intended  that  any  such  proportion  as 
that  Avhich  is  in  tliis  bill  should  have  been  loaded  upon  the  revenues 
of  the  District.  I  do  not  knoAv  hoAv  that  may  be.  HoAvever,  as  a 
connnittee  Ave  must  adjust  this  matter  in  some  Avay — either  let  it  re 
main  as  it  is  or  continue  for  one  year  more  the  half-and-half  prin- 
ciple, or  adopt  the  suggestion  of  Col.  Kutz  that  Ave  shall  change  the 
pro])ortion  and  try  that  experiment,  or  devise  some  other  means  that 
is  not  visible  to  the  naked  eye  at  the  present  time. 

It  is  a  ])retty  important  resi)onsibility,  as  I  vieAv  it.  Of  course,  if 
Ave  should  accej^t  the  line  of  least  resistance,  we  Avould  agree  to  the 
proposition  in  the  l)ill  and  let  it  go  at  that:  but  I  do  not  l)elieve  the 
Senate  Avill  feel  that  way. 

Senator  Smith.  Have  you  gentlemen  now  said  all  that  you  desire 
to  say  in  regard  to  this  matter?  You  have  no  further  suggestions  to 
make,  other  than  Avhat  you  have  said,  in  regard  to  the  change  recom- 
mended by  the  House? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1911.  19 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  I  think  not. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  I  think  not. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Has  this  proposed  change  commended  itself 
to  any  trade  organizations,  or  Avhat  you  call  citizens'  associations,  or 
the  chamber  of  commerce,  or  the  board  of  trade,  or  has  it  not  been 
pretty  generally  condemned^ 

Commissioner  Xenvmax.  It  has  l)een  very  generally  condemned  by 
the  organizations  in  the  city ;  yes,  sir. 

There  is  just  one  further  point  I  should  like  to  suggest  before  we 
leave  that  subject.  I  think  the  opposition  is  very  natural,  Senator, 
in;l  I  can  not  help  feeling  that  it  is  a  sort  of  a  natural  conservatism 
'I't  is  based  on  this  feeling:  "  Here  is  a  system  that  we  have  had  for 
HI  I  years,  and  it  has  Avorked  fine.  We  had  better  not  change  it."  I 
tiiink  that,  except  among  a  comparatively  few  people  of  the  District, 
there  is  not  an  intimate,  thorough  knowledge  of  all  of  the  details  of 
the  condition  that  confronts  ns  to-day.  It  has  worked  well ;  but 
this  matter  that  I  pointed  out  to  yon.  as  to  what  would  become  of 
this  surplus  on  the  1st  of  July — details  of  that  kind.  I  am  satisfied, 
ale  known  to  comparatively  few  people. 

Senator  S:\iith.  Whv  should  not  that  surplus  go  to  pa}'  the  funded 
debt? 

Senator  Curtis.  It  should. 

Connnissioner  Xeavmax.  It  should.  It  is  a  perfectly  proper  fund 
to  use  for  that  purpose,  but  it  requires  an  appropriation  to  do  it. 

Senator  Smith.  The  people  of  the  District  oAve  it.  and  that  is 
Avhere  it  should  go.  It  is  their  money,  and  they  oAve  the  money  rep- 
resented by  the  l.onds.  and  they  ought  to  liquidate  that  debt. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Two  years  ago  we  submitted  that  pro- 
posal in  our  estimates. 

Senator  Gallixger.  We  probably  avouIcI  have  to  appropriate  an 
equal  amount  from  the  Federal  Treasury. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Of  course  Mr.  Xoyes  would  immediately 
say  that  to  apph'  it  to  debt  Avas  a  A'iolation  of  the  half-and-half 
principle;  but  it  Avould  much  better,  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
District  taxpayer,  to  haA'e  it  applied  to  the  funded  debt  than  to 
have  it  go  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  and  be  gone. 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  It  Avould  mean  the  appropriation  of 
$4,000,000. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Under  the  half-and-half  plan. 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  Under  the  half-and-half  plan. 

Senator  Smith.  I  did  not  catch  your  last  remark. 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  I  say,  if  you  folloAved  the  specific 
report  of  the  joint  fiscal  committee,  Avhich  said  that  the  funded 
debt  must  be  paid  half  and  half,  then,  to  make  that  surplus  avail- 
able for  that  purpose  would  require  an  appropriation  of  $4,000,000 
in  addition  to  the  $97.5.000  annually  provided. 

Senator  Curtis.  It  Avould  onlv  require  the  appropriation  of 
$2,000,000,  and  authorizing  the  placing  of  this  $2,000,000  to  the 
credit  of  the  fund :  that  is  all. 

Senator  Smith.  Yes;  of  course  it  is  already  appropriated. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  I  just  Avanted  to  say,  Senator,  that  when 
you  get  into  the  consideration  of  this  subject  later,  if  there  is  any 
waA^  in  which  we  can  be  of  assistance,  either  in  giving  information 


20  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATION    BILL,  1917. 

or  getting  data  or  by  the  expression  of  opinion,  we  will  be  available 
at  an}'  time.    We  want  to  help  in  every  wa}^  we  can. 

Senator  S^iith.  It  does  seem  to  me  that  before  we  commence  ex- 
pending money  that  has  been  collected  from  the  citizens  of  Wash- 
ington in  the  way  of  taxes  to  pay  what  is  contrary  to  the  law^  that 
now  exists,  they  ought  to  be  allowed  to  have  the  mone}^  which  is  in 
excess  go  to  i)ay  what  they  have  failed  to  make  up  in  the  past  of 
this  funded  debt.  In  other  words,  if  they  have  incurred  a  debt  in 
the  past,  and  they  have  more  money  now  than  is  necessary,  they 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  apply  that  to  the  past  debt. 

Commissioner  Newman.  That  is  perfectlj^  proper. 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  I  think  that  is  absolutely  true ;  and  we 
have  been  operating  under  the  half-and-half  law  that  made  that 
provision,  so  that  that  theory  would  be  operative,  and  that  surplus 
should  be  available  for  that  purpose. 

Senator  Smith.  First,  before  we  make  a  change,  we  should  start 
even. 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  We  should  square  the  books  before 
making  a  change,  in  any  event. 

Senator  Lea.  I  understand  the  position  of  Mr.  XeAvman  and  Mr. 
Brownlow  is  that  under  the  current  law  you  are  not  operating  under 
the  half-and-half  principle. 

Commissioner  Newman.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Lea.  It  is  66  and  34  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  About  66  and  34. 

Senator  Lea.  And  unless  some  suggestion  like  that  made  by  the 
chairman  is  adopted 

Commissioner  Broavnloav,  And,  of  course,  if  you  went  on  as  it  is 
now,  and  the  appropriations  were  kept  down,  even  under  the  half- 
and-half  law  you  would  soon  extinguish  the  debt,  and  there  would  be 
a  surplus  which  would  require  extraordinary  liberality  on  the  part 
of  succeeding  Congresses  ever  to  reach. 

Senator  Smith.  If  the  people  here  have  been  held  in  the  past  to 
pay  half-and-half,  and  in  order  to  pay  that  half-and-half  they  be- 
came indebted,  and  they  borrowed  money  in  order  to  do  it,  it  seems 
to  me  that  when  they  get  above  the  half-and-half  they  ought  to  be 
allowed  that  money  in  order  to  liquidate  the  debt  they  have  in- 
curred in  the  past. 

Connnissioner  New3ian.  That  is  not  exactly  correct.  Senator.  This 
is  the  old  Shepherd  regime  debt. 

Senator  Smith.  I  understand;  but  it  is  against  the  people  of  the 
District  of  Columbia. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes;  but  I  mean  it  was  not  a  debt  con- 
tracted during  the  operation  of  the  half-and-half  plan.  It  was  con- 
tracted prior  to  1878. 

Senator  Smith.  But  it  is  owing  by  the  people  of  the  District  of 
Columbia. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes.  sir. 

Senator  Lea.  On  the  basis  of  what  the  Federal  Government  has 
paid,  does  the  District  owe  the  Federal  Government  anything? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  No;  nothing. 

Commissioner  Neavman.  No;  we  do  not  owe  them  anything. 

Senator  Gallinger.  They  have  liquidated  all  the  floating  debt — 
everything  except  the  bonds. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  21 

Senator  Lea.  What  amount  of  surplus  has  been  carried  from  year 
to  year  out  of  the  District  funds  to  the  general  account  of  the  (lov- 
ernment  ? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Prac  tically  none.  There  has  usually  been 
a  deficit. 

Senator  Lea.  I  thoug-ht  you  said  there  was  $-2,000,000  this  year. 

Commissioner  Xew.aiax.  The  1st  of  July  there  will  be  about 
$2,000,000. 

Senator  Lea.  This  will  be  the  first  year  ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes,  sir. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  There  was  a  surplus  of  $186,000  at  the 
end  of  last  year. 

Senator  Lea.  But  there  was  never  a  surplus  before. 

Commissioner  Brown  low.  No,  sir.  There  Avere  some  surpluses, 
but  they  were  immediately  applied  to  pay  otf  the  floating  debt — not 
the  bonded  debt,  but  the  floating  debt:  and  the  floating  debt  was 
extinguished  by  such  surpluses.  Whenever  Congress  did  not  appro- 
priate double  the  amount  of  the  revenues,  that  surplus  went  to  paj^ 
the  floating  debt,  until  the  debt  was  extinguished.  It  has  now  been 
extinguished. 
_  Senator  Gallixger.  Mr.  Xewman,  as  a  residt  of  some  investiga- 
tions that  I  made  a  few  years  ago — and  I  regret  that  it  is  not  clearer 
in  my  mind  than  it  is  to-day— I  found  that  there  Avere  a  great  many 
statutes  in  Avliich  the  half-and-half  principle  was  recognized  and 
specificalh'  stated.    It  seemed  to  me  that  I  found  more  than  20. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  ]More  than  that.  The  Aqueduct  Bridge 
act.  which  was  signed  the  other  day.  is  an  instance. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes:  I  think  there  were  a  much  larger  num- 
ber than  20  when  I  looked  it  up.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  we  are  going 
to  destroy  the  half-and-half  principle  in  this  bill  we  will  have  to  go 
through  the  statutes  and  find  out  what  we  have  got  to  do  to  equalize 
those  matters. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Yes,  sir.  For  instance,  all  the  fees  col- 
lecteci  by  the  District,  license  fees  and  money — all  collections  of  any 
kind  except  taxes — are  deposited  in  the  Treasury,  one-half  to  the 
credit  of  the  United  States  and  one-half  to  the  credit  of  the  District. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Preciseh^ 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  That  would  have  to  be  changed  to  con- 
form Avitli  whatever  appropriation  scheme  is  adopted. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes:  and  you  will  find  that  it  will  be  ((uite  a 
task  to  go  through  the  statutes. 

Senator  Curtis.  It  ought  not  to  be  done  in  an  appropriation  bill. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Xo.  It  might  be  possible  to  cover  that  with 
one  blanket  clause.     I  do  not  know. 

C(.nnnissioner  Browxlow.  It  is  so  sought  in  this  Ijill,  in  the  latter 
part. 

Commissioner  Xeav.alvx.  Getting  back  for  a  moment  to  your  ques- 
tion about  the  organizations  in  the  District  who  favor  or  oppose  this 
change,  as  I  said.  I  think  it  was  the  feeling  among  the  average  peo- 
ple of  the  District  that  "  this  has  worked  well  for  10  years ;  why 
change  it  ?  " 

On  that  point  I  want  to  say  something  which  is  pure  opinion.  Of 
course,  it  is  not  a  thing  that  is  demonstrable  by  evidence,  but  I  be- 
lieve it  very  firmly.     That  is  that  the  development  of  Washington 


22  DISTEICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

since  187S.  consistent  and  regular  aiiJ  effective,  and  the  attitude  of 
Congress  in  the  matter  of  ai)propriations.  etc..  has  not  been  due  to 
the  half-and-half  feature  of  the  act  of  1878,  but.  on  the  other  hand, 
has  been  to  a  much  greater  extent  due  to  the  fact  that  since  1878  the 
complete,  exclusive  control  of  that  development  has  been  Avith  Con- 
gress. Prior  to  that  time,  as  you  know,  there  was  a  great  deal  of 
waste  and  extravagance  and  improper  administration. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Under  the  local  government  ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes.  In  1878  Congress  stepped  in  and 
said :  "  We  will  take  charge  of  this  city.  We  will  run  it.  We  will 
collect  the  money.  AVe  will  make  the  appropriations:""  and  it  has 
done  so.  I  think  it  has  been  the  congressional  control  rather  than 
the  mere  50-50  financial  arrangement  that  has  produced  the  de- 
velopment of  this  city,  although  the  people  of  the  city  think  that 
it  is  the  half-and-half  plan  that  has  done  it.  and  do  not  realize 
that  certainly  a  very  potential  factor — to  my  mind  the  potential 
factor — has  been  the  congressional  control. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Federal  supervision. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Federal  supervision,  and  more  than 
supervision — absolute  Federal  control. 

(The  subcommittee  thereupon  took  a  recess  until  2.?)0  o'clock  of 
the  same  day.) 

AFTERXOOX    SESSIOX. 

The  subcommittee  reconvened  at  2.30  o'clock  p.  m, 

STATEMENTS  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF 
COLUMBIA— Continued. 

Senator  S:mith  of  Maryland.  We  have  discussed  this  morning  the 
half  and  half.    We  will  now  take  up  this  bill,  if  it  is  agreeable. 

GENERAL  EXPENSES. 

EXECL'TIVE  OFFICE. 

I  notice,  on  page  2.  under  the  head  of  "  General  expenses."  the  sal- 
aries of  two  commissioners  are  made  $7,500  each.  The  House  al- 
lowed the  same  as  before.  $5,000  each.  Have  you  gentlemen  any- 
thing to  say  in  respect  to  that  ? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Mr.  Chairman,  we  submitted  to  the 
House  committee  a  memorandum  showing  the  duties  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  District  of  Columbia,  which  memorandum  appears 
in  the  House  hearings,  at  page  12.  It  is  a  very  complete  memo- 
randum, giving  comparisons  of  the  duties  at  the  present  tiiTie  and 
the  increase  in  duties  since  the  salary  was  fixed  at  its  present  figure, 
$5,000.  and  I  think  that  statement  embodies  everything  that  we 
would  care  to  present  on  that  subject. 

Senator  Ctrtis.  Wiat  about  vour  secretarv,  for  whom  there  is  an 
estimated  increase  from  $2.400 "to  $3,000?  Is  not  $2.-t00  the  usual 
salary  that  is  paid  to  secretaries? 

Commissioner  Xeavman.  This  man  is  the  secretary  of  the  board 
of  commissioners,  not  a  secretary  to  the  individual  commissioners. 
He  is  reallv 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1017.  23 

C'oiiiniissioner  Bhownlow.  Secretaiy  of  state  of  the  District  of 
Colnmbia. 

Commissioner  XEw^fAX.  He  is  very  valuable.  It  is  a  very  im- 
portant position.  Of  conrse.  he  is  the  connecting  link  between  the 
connnissioners  and  all  of  the  District  establishments,  the  depart- 
ments and  the  machinery,  on  the  one  side,  and  to  a  very  large  extent 
between  the  commissioners  and  the  public.  The  duties  have  enor- 
mously increased  in  recent  years,  and  Ave  consider  that  it  is  very, 
very  imi^ortant  to  have  a  salary  for  that  position  which  is  commen- 
surate with  the  duties.  It  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  strenuous 
places,  if  not  the  most  strenuous  place,  in  the  District  government, 
and  a  position  also,  of  course,  of  very  great  responsibility. 

Senator  Lea.  When  was  the  present  salary  fixed? 

Commissioner  Xew.man.  The  present  salary  Avas  increased  from 
$2,100  fiAe  or  six  years  ago. 

Senator  Gallixger.  ^Ir.  Cliairman.  I  am  going  to  venture  a  sug- 
gestion as  to  these  recommendations  for  increases  of  salaries.  I  as- 
sume that  the  commissioners  felt  that  in  eA-ery  instance  it  Avould  be 
proper  to  make  these  increases. 

The  CiiAiKMAX.  I  think  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  go  over  each  in- 
dividually. 

Senator  Gallixgek.  Xo:  avc  can  take  them  up  ourselves.  But  I 
Avas  going  to  suggest  that  if  there  was  any  case  that  Avas  of  more 
than  particular  merit,  the  commissioners  might  call  our  attention 
to  that. 

Connnissioner  Xeav.max.  I  think,  of  course.  Ave  haAe  covered  all  of 
the  cases  pretty  fullv  in  the  hearings  on  the  bill  in  the  House. 

The  CiiAiRMAX.  The  Senator's  suggestion  Avas.  not  to  particularly 
individualize  them.  l)ut  if  there  Avas  any  special  case  that  Avas  more 
pronounced  than  the  balance,  aac  Avoidd  be  glad  to  hear  from  you. 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  There  is  one  thing  on  page  3  that  I 
Avould  mention.  There  might  be  an  opportunity  such  as  you  speak 
of.  Running  all  the  way  through  our  bill  and  through  the  estimates 
is  that  neAv  language  Avhich  is  found  in  lines  21.  22,  and  23 : 

For  transportation,  means  of  transportation,  and  maintenance  of  means  of 
transportation,  including  allowaces  to  ispectors  for  automobiles  at  the  )-ate  of 
S25  per  month  each,  and  for  horse  and  buggy  at  the  rate  of  $20  per  month. 

And  in  lines  16,  17,  and  18 : 

For  proA-ision  and  maintenance  by  themselves  of  t\A-o  motorcycles  for  use  in 
their  ofHcial  insj^ection  of  elevators.  S12  per  month  each. 

AVe  found  that  in  past  appropriations  the  alloAvance-  to  emi>loyees 
of  the  District  who  used  their  oAvn  transportation  in  the  District 
service  Avould  vary.  One  man  Avould  get  $30  a  month  for  a  motor 
car  and  another  $20  a  month,  and  horses  and  buggies  Avere  some  of 
them  $20  a  month,  and  some  of  them  $25  a  month,  and  some  $27.50 
a  month :  so  that  Ave  attempted  to  standardize  bv  making  an  allow- 
ance of  $25  in  every  instance  for  an  automobile,  $20  for  a  horse- 
draAvn  vehicle,  and  $12  for  a  motorcycle.  The  House  connnittee  fol- 
loAver  that  recommendation,  so  that  that  runs  all  the  Avav  through 
the  bill. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes. 


24  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATIOI^    BILL,  1917. 

BUILDING-INSPECTION   DIVISIONS. 

Col.  KuTz.  On  page  3,  line  8,  there  is  a  proposed  increase  of  $^00 
for  the  principal  inspector  of  buildings,  from  $1,800  to  $2,000. 
Lately  the  commissioners  have  forbidden  employees  in  the  biulding 
inspector's  office  to  do  any  work  of  the  class  passed  upon  in  that 
office  for  outside  parties.  Heretofore  a  number  of  employees  of  the 
building  inspector's  office,  by  doing  work  out  of  hours,  have  been  able 
to  earn  extra  compensation,  but  we  felt  that  as  an  administrative 
measure  that  practice  was  bad.  The  recent  order  constitutes  an  addi- 
tional reason  for  increasing  the  compensation  of  the  principal  in- 
spector from  $1,800  to  $2,000. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  That  is  a  recent  restriction,  is  it '. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Upon  what  theory  do  you  deny  a  man  the 
right  to  earn  a  little  extra  money  out  of  hours  if  he  discharges  his 
duty  faithfully  during  hours? 

Col.  KuTz.  It  is  only  work  of  a  character  Avhich  must  be  ])assed 
upon  in  the  office  in  which  he  is  employed  that  he  is  forbidden  to  do 
outside  of  office  hours.  We  felt  that  there  was  room — not  that  there 
has  been  any  collusion — for  an  employee  of  the  office  to  favor  work 
that  was  done  by  another  member  of  the  office. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  have  in  mind  one  case  where  I  think  that 
that  is  a  very  unfortunate  decision — not  by  the  commissioners,  ho^  - 
ever.  That  is  the  reason  I  asked  the  question.  I  never  have  been 
able  to  quite  see,  if  a  man  is  an  honest  man.  Avhy  he  might  not  be 
allowed,  if  he  is  getting  a  small  salary,  to  spend  an  hour  or  two 
after  half-past  four  in  the  afternoon  earning  an  honest  dollar. 

Col.  KuTz.  We  do  not  object  to  that  at  all.  Senator.  We  encour- 
age it  in  every  way  we  can ;  but  we  feel  that  where  a  man  is  engaged 
in  preparing  the  plans  for  buildings  which  must  be  passed  upon 
by  the  office  in  which  he  is  employed,  there  is  room  f(;r  improper 
conduct;  not  that  there  is  any  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  com- 
missioners that  such  improper  conduct  Avas  taking  place. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  lay  stress  on  that  one  salary  of  the 
principal  inspector  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  That  is  the  case  in  which  I  know  that  the  man  has 
been  earning  considerably  more  than  the  difference  in  the  compen- 
sation we  recommend. 

Connnissioner  XEw:^rAN.  These  estimates  of  increases  were  pre- 
pared before  that  order  of  prohibition  was  passed. 

CoL  KiTZ.  That  is  why  I  refer  to  it  as  an  additional  reason  for 
the  increase. 

assessor's  OFFICE. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Did  you  speak  of  page  5? 

Senator  S:mith.  of  Maryland.  What  is  that? 

Connnissioner  Brownlow.  I  thought  someone  sp(>ke  of  something 
on  page  5. 

Senator  Smith,  of  Maryhmd.  Yes.     I  was  h;oking  at  page  •"•. 

Senator  (xALLiNCiER.  That  attracted  my  attention,  and  I  was  go- 
ing to  make  an  inquiry  about  it.  I  have  personally  always  believed 
that  real  estate  ought  to  be  assessed  every  year  instead  of  eveiy 
three  years,  as  is  now  the  habit  in  the  District,  and  I  noticed  that 
you  recommended  that  that  change  should  be  made. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  WIT.  25 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Senator,  I  think  that  is  an  exceedingly 
important  thing-,  and  I  shouhl  like  very  much  to  see  that  done,  so 
that  we  mi<>ht  have  annual  assessments  and  jn'ovision  made  for  a 
f(n-ce  sufficient  to  do  the  work.  At  the  jn-esent  time  Ave  have  three 
assessors  of  real  estate,  and  they  are  required  to  view  each  parcel  of 
leal  estate  in  the  city,  and  there  are  80.000  ])arcels. 

Commissioner  Brown^low.  Each  of  the  three  of  them  is  required 
to  inspect  each  and  every  parcel. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes:  the  ]:)rovi.-ion  is  not  that  the  hoard 
>hall  view  each  parcel,  but  each  of  the  members  of  the  board  is  re- 
(juired  by  law  to  view  personally  each  parcel  of  real  estate.  Now, 
tlint  is  not  a  particularly  objectionable  thing.  I  do  not  mean  that  I 
am  raising  any  objection  to  that,  but  if  that  requirement  is  placed 
u]wn  us.  of  having  an  annual  assessment,  we  should  have,  of  course,  a 
sufficient  number' of  assessors  provided  to  comply  with  the  require- 
ment. I  mean  that  we  should  be  able  to  district  our  territory  and 
vv.t  our  force  in  the  various  districts.  Of  course,  there  are  changes 
in  values  within  three  vears  which  should  be  recorded,  which  should 
be  acted  upon  before  the  three  years  has  elapsed;  the  inequalities 
develop  a  just  cause  of  objection  because  of  inequalities  when  the 
three-year  period  elapses  between  adjustments.  This  comes  in  my 
department  accordinof  to  the  division  of  matters  among  the  commis- 
sioners, and  I  have  devoted  a  great  deal  of  attention  to  it  since  I  have 
become  commissioner. 

Senator  (t.\llix(;er.  Do  you  knoAv  of  any  other  municipality  that 
assesses  that  way? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Triennially? 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Xo,  sir. 

Senator  Curtis.  In  our  vState  they  assess  everv  two  years. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  Yes;  they  have  biennial  assessments  in 
a  good  manv  places.     That  is  not  as  bad  as  it  is  in  the  District. 

Commissioner  X'eavmax.  Of  course,  if  we  are  required  to  assess 
annually,  it  is  manifest  we  should  have  enough  men  to  do  it.  I 
think  our  estimate  carries  sufficient  force,  and  the  statement  made 
in  the  hearings  before  the  House  committee  covers  the  situation 
l^rettv  fully. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  It  is  a  great  injustice  in  some  parts  of 
the  town,  where  property  is  going  cTown.  for  the  owners  to  have  to 
continue  to  pav  on  the 'fornVer  value,  and  it  is  also  unjust  where 
]n-operty  is  appreciating  in  value  that  the  owners  should  continue 
to  pav  on  an  assessment  which  i~  too  low. 

Senator  Curtis.  It  woidd  be  an  additional  expense  of  $17,300. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  That  would  make  a  total  of  about 
§67.000— less  than  $70.000— which  I  think  is  a  very  reasonable 
charge  on  an  assessment  Avhich  produces  about  $7,000,000  annually. 

office  of  corporatiox  couxskl. 

Senator  Curtis.  What  is  the  meaning  of  that  ju-oviso  contained 
in  the  slip  pasted  on  page  6  of  the  bill : 

Provided,  That  hereafter  no  attorney  for  the  District  of  Ui.ltiniliin  sliall  retain 
any  attorney  fee  taxed  as  cost  in  any  litigation  to  wliicli  the  Distrid  of  Co- 
lumbia is  a  party. 


26  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Does  that  iiieiin  that  under  existing  law  if  a  fee  is  taxed  and  the 
costs  paid  the  attorney  gets  that  fee.  and  under  this  proviso  he  is  kept 
from  taking  it  I 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  That  is  intended  to  alfeet  a  situation 
Avhich  I  think  is  rehitively  very  unimportant.  Mi-.  Johnson,  the 
chairman  of  the  House  District  Committee,  wrote  to  me  some  time 
ago  and  said  that  he  understood  that  in  certain  cases  to  which  the 
District  was  a  party,  in  the  course  of  the  litigation  there  were  cer- 
tain docket  fees  paid  to  the  attorney,  and  asked  me  to  give  him  the 
information  as  to  the  facts  in  the  case.  I  Avrote  to  the  clerk  of  the 
court  of  appeals  and  to  the  clerk  of  the  District  supreme  court  and 
asked  them  if  they  would  send  me  the  records  of  any  fees  of  this 
character  paid  to  the  corporation  counsel  or  any  of  his  assistants 
during  the  past  three  years.  I  got  back  from  the  clerk  of  the  court 
of  appeals  a  statement  to  the  effect  that  there  had  been  seven  fees 
paid  of  $5  each.  The  clerk  of  the  District  Supreme  Court  wrote  to 
me  that  'it  was  impossible  to  furnish  me  the  information  without 
going  over  every  case,  case  by  case,  but  told  of  one  fee  of  $50.  He 
said  that  they  had  no  record  except  on  their  docket. 

I  asked  the  corporation  counsel  and  his  assistant  about  this,  and 
they  said  to  me  that  there  were  a  few  cases  in  which  a  docket  fee 
was  given.  Mr.  Syme  told  me  that  his  estimate  was  that  those  fees 
would  amount  to  less^ — the  total  of  the  amounts  received  by  him  and 
his  assistants  in  that  way — v^■ould  amount  to  less  than  $100  a  year. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  House  has  put  in  this  proviso. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes;  we  have  no  objection  whatever  to 
that  item,  but  the  condition  it  apparently  seeks  to  correct  is  a  very 
little  thing,  that  I  had  previously  investigated  and  had  not  consid- 
ered at  all  serious. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  see  you  recommend  an  additional  assistant 
corporation  counsel.    There  are  now  five. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes.  sir.  I  will  call  attention  to  the 
statement  made  before  the  House  committee  by  the  corporation 
counsel.  He  very  fully  and  very  frankly  covered  the  situation  in 
his  office.  Briefly,  it  is  simply  this,  that  the  office  is  swamped.  Thev 
have  not  anything  like  the  force  necessary  to  do  the  work  which 
devolves  upon  them.  "We  are  defendants  in  suits  involving  a  total 
of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  a  year — damage  suits — and  in 
many  of  those  cases  the  corporation  counsel  and  his  assistants  have 
to  meet  the  very  best  attorneys  of  the  bar,  and  all  of  them  work  very 
hard  all  the  time,  very  long  hours,  and  it  is  only  by  the  most  loyal 
effort  on  their  part  that  they  can  get  through  the  legal  business. 

Senator  Lea.  Are  the  corporation  counsel  permitted  to  engage  in 
outside  practice  ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Xo.  sir.  ^ 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  There  are  five  of  them  now,  I  be- 
lieve. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes;  that  is  another  consideration.  At 
the  time  I  was  appointed  commissioner,  or  soon  after  I  was  ap- 
pointed commissioner,  I  found  that  the  corporation  counsel  and  his 
assistants  did  considerable  private  practice.  They,  for  instance, 
maintained  their  offices  uptoAvn  in  office  buildings,  and  frequently 
we  Avould  have  to  go  to  their  private  offices  to  find  them  when  we 
■panted  them  on  official  business,  and  we  employed  Mr.  Syme  with 


DISTEICT    OF 


C0LU3i31A    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  191".  27 


the  uiiderstaiulino-  that  neither  he  nor  any  ot  his  assistants  shoiikl 
eno-ao-e  in  private  practice,  except  the  fe^v  cases  tliat  a  man  iiuiiht 
have  hanging  over  at  the  time  he  was  appointed,  which  A^e  per- 
mitted them  to  finish  up.  ...    i  ,  i 

Senator  Saittii  of  :Mar viand.  Thev  are  not  permitted  to  make  any 
money  in  their  practice  in  any  other  Avay  than  by  their  salaries  which 
thev  get  here.     Is  that  it  ^  .       ,,      .r.,  x-       ^i    ^ 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes:  that  is  all.  The  reason  ±or  that, 
Senator,  was  that  we  found  some  cases  m  which  it  looked  as  it  the 
opportunity  for  impropriety  was  present.  For  instance,  m  one 
case  of  the  violation  of  an  excise  law  the  first  assistant  corporation 
counsel  defended  in  the  police  court  the  violation  of  the  excise  law, 
and  his  subordinate  in  clHce.  the  second  assistant  corporation  coun- 
sel, representing  the  District,  conducted  the  prosecution.  It  seemed 
to  us  that  things  of  that  kind  gave  opportunity  for  impropriety. 

Senator  Curtls.  That  would  not  be  proper  at  all,  it  seems  to  ine. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Do  the  commissioners  appoint  these  assistant 
corporation  counsel? 

Commissioner  Xeavman.  Yes.  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  must.  then,  of  necessity,  be  compelled, 
in  view  of  the  small  salaries  they  get.  to  appoint  young  and  inexperi- 
enced men,  are  you  not?  For  instance,  four  of  the  five  assistant 
corporation  counsel  get  only  $1,500  a  year? 

Commissioner  Xew^man.  Yes,  sir:  we  have  to  take  young  men 
recently  out  of  law  school,  ancl  they  do  it  for  experience  and  what 
publicity  they  will  get  out  of  it.  a.-,  -^r^  ^i 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  notice  that  the  first  assistant  gets  $-2.oOO,  the 
second  assistant  $2,000,  the  third  assistant  $1,800,  and  the  fourth  and 
fifth  assistants  $1,500  each.  You  estimate  for  one  assistant  corpora- 
tion counsel  at  $2,500?  . 

Commissioner  Xewman.  Yes;  we  want  two  assistants  at  $2.o00  each. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  want  another  man  at  the  same  salary 
that  the  first  assistant  now  gets  ? 

Commissioner  Newsman.  Yes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  So  that  you  would  say,  "  two  first  assistant 
corporation  counsel  at  $2,500  each?" 

Commissioner  Xew3ian.  Yes. 

Commisisoner  Brownlow\  Two  of  those  printed  figures,  that  ot  the 
salary  of  the  second  assistant  at  $2,000,  and  of  the  third  assistant  at 
$1,800.  are  increases  in  the  House  bill. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes.  The  second  assistant  was  increased  by 
the  House  from  $1,800  to  $2,000.  and  the  third  assistant  from  $1,500 
to  $1,800. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes.  Of  course,  that  will  somewhat  meet 
the  matter  of  justice  to  these  men.  but  it  will  not  helj)  us  any  m  the 
matter  of  lack  of  sufficient  force. 

Senator  Gallinger.  These  young  men  must  be  practically  law 
clerks,  and  no  more  than  that  (  •     i     .  -i 

Commissioner  New^ian.  No.  sir.  \ou  would  be  surprised  at  the 
cases  we  have  to  call  on  those  men  to  handle. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  One  of  these  men  at  $1,500  handles  all 
the  cases  in  the  police  court.  He  handles  on  an  average  15.000  cases 
a  year. 


28  DISTRICT    or    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Newman.  One  of  these  $1,500  men.  Senator,  is  in 
charge  of  the  defense  of  damage  cases  in  the  courts.  He  has  assist- 
ance from  among  the  othei's  from  time  to  time,  but  he  is  the  man  who 
has  charge  of  that  part  of  the  office,  and.  of  course,  it  is  a  very  im- 
portant department. 

NAME   OF   PRODUCE   MARKET. 

Senat(;r  Smith  of  Marvhind.  I  see  you  recommend  a  change,  here, 
in  the  name  of  the  produce  market. 

Senator  Curtis.  That  is  on  page  7. 

Senator  S^iith  of  JNIaryhnid.  Yoii  would  change  it  from  "  Farm- 
ers" Produce  Market""  to  '"Haskell  Produce  Market."  "Farmers*"" 
sounds  better  to  me  than  *•"  Haskell.*"  What  is  the  object  of  substi- 
tuting "'  Haskell ""  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  It  Avas  named  the  "  Haskell  Market  *' 
by  tlie  commissioners  in  honor  of  the  man  who  was  superintendent 
of  markets  here  for  many  years,  and  who  died.  It  had  been  carried 
in  the  appropriation  bill  as  the  "  Farmers'  Produce  Market,**  but 
it  was  known  under  the  commissioners'  order  as  the  "  Haskell 
Produce  Market.**  We  thought  that  we  would  suggest  that  change 
to  Congress,  and  if  Congress  did  not  agree  to  it  we  would  then 
change  the  official  designation  to  '*  Farmers*  Produce  Market."  We 
are  not  insistent  upon  that  at  all,  but  we  would  like  to  haye  your 
yiews.  AVe  did  ask  for  some  additional  market  emploj'ees  that  we 
haye  recommended. 

OFFICE    OF    SUPERINTEXDENT    OF    WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES. 

On  ]^age  8  there  are  fiye  new  employees  that  we  estimated  for, 
four  of  which  are  omitted  from  the  House  bill,  one  chief  inspector 
of  weights  and  measures,  one  inspector  of  weights  and  measures, 
and  three  inspectors  of  weights  and  measures,  all  additional.  We 
haye  not  now  a  sufficient  numl)er  of  inspectors  to  go  around  and  in- 
spect the  weights  and  measures  as  often  as  it  ought  to  l)e  done,  and 
if  we  are  to  coyer  the  entire  field  in  the  proper  manner  and  expedi- 
tiously, and  do  full  seryice  to  the  community  and  not  unnecessarily 
harass  and  annoy  the  dealers  the  force  ought  to  l)e  increased. 

Senator  (tallinger.  You  have  a  superintendent  and  three  assist- 
tants.  Are  they  inspectors,  those  assistants,  or  do  you  want  a  differ- 
ent force  called  "  inspectors?  ** 

Senator  Ci  irris.  It  looks  like  they  Ayant  a  ditterent  force.  They 
ask  for  a  chief  inspector  of  weights  and  measures,  one  inspector 
of  weights  and  measures,  and  three  inspectors  of  weights  and  meas- 
ures.   That  looks  like  a  separate  force.     Is  that  right? 

Conunissioner  PjRownlow.  They  woidd  be  under  the  superin- 
tendent of  weights  and  measures,  the  present  title  of  *'  assistant  *' 
being  changed  to  "  inspector.*' 

Senator  (iallix(u-:r.  Then,  this  is  simply  an  addition  to  the  force 
you  now  haye? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Yes,  sir. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATION    BILL,  1017.  29 

EXGINEER  commissioner's  OFFICE. 

Col.  KuTz.  On  page  8,  under  the  heading  ""  Engineer  Commis- 
sioner's Office."  we  have  asked  for  few  increases  of  sahiries  of  em- 
ployees. These  do  not  represent  general  increases,  but  merely  in- 
creases to  correct  what  we  regard  as  ine({uaiities.  We  feel  that  the 
salaries  of  these  positions  were  doubtless  proper  when  they  were 
authorized,  but  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  positions  do 
change  from  time  to  time,  some  departments  increase  and  some  stand 
still. 

Senator  Curtis.  I  want  to  ask  3^011  about  the  Public  T"^tilities  Com- 
juission,  especially  the  inspectors  of  gas.  Have  you  enough  men  to 
do  that  work  propertly^ 

Col.  KuTz.  I  think  so,  sir.  That  would  come  under  the  plumbing 
department.  I  think,  rather  than  the  Public  Utilities  Commission. 
I  think  wlitit  you  have  reference  to  is  with  regard  to  meter  inspection 
and  inspection  to  determine  the  quality  of  the  gas. 

In  connection  with  the  item  of  the  Public  Utilities  Commission  on 
page  10.  we  ask  for  an  increase  of  practically  $8,000  in  the  appropria- 
tion. We  are  asking  $34,000  in  place  of  $29,4:79,  which  is  the  appro- 
priation Jn  the  current  bill. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.     They  gave  3^011  $30,000  in  the  House? 

EXECUTIVE   OFFICER,   PUBLIC    UTILITIES    COMMISSION. 

Col.  KuTZ.  The}'  gave  us  $30,000.  One  of  the  items  that  go  to 
make  up  that  sum  of  $8,000  was  for  the  salary  of  an  executive  officer 
of  the  Public  Utilities  Commission.  That  position  is  now  filled  by 
one  of  the  assistants  to  the  engineer  commissioner,  an  Engineer  officer 
of  the  Army.  His  tenure  of  office  is  relatively  of  short  duration, 
and  when  his  time  is  up.  as  it  will  be  in  the  case  of  the  present  in- 
cumbent, this  year,  Ave  will  have  to  replace  him  with  another  man, 
either  his  militaiy  successor  or  a  civilian,  as  we  prefer.  If  we  get 
an  Engineer  officer,  he  will  not  have  anv  special  knowledge  of  public- 
utility  matters  and  it  will  be  some  time  before  we  can  make  him 
familiar  with  his  new  duties.  We  feel  that  that  is  a  very  important 
position  and  one  that  should  be  more  or  less  permanentl}^  filled,  just 
as  are  the  heads  of  our  other  departments.  The  House,  of  course,  gives 
us  part  of  the  increase,  and  we  would  be  able  with  the  House  appro- 
priation to  go  ahead  and  appoint  the  executive  secretary,  but  we 
Avould  not  be  able  to  make  any  other  increase  in  the  force. 

The  need  for  the  increase  in  the  force  other  than  the  executive 
secretary  is  due  to  the  fact  that  our  valuations  are  just  about  com- 
pleted, and  our  valuation  bureau  Avill  be  disbanded  within  a  month 
or  two,  so  that  all  the  work  that  is  done  in  the  future  will  have  to  be 
done  by  the  regular  organization.  In  addition  to  the  work  it  is  doing 
now.  it  will  be  part  of  the  work  of  the  regular  bureau  to  keep  alive 
the  valuations  that  have  been  made  at  a  cost  of  $156,000.  and  we  feel 
that  it  will  be  money  Avasted  if  these  valuations  are  not  kept  alive. 

Senator  S:mitii  of  ]Maiyland.  This  $40,000  v.diich  the}'  have  allowed 
you  would  not  be  enough? 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo :  that  would  onh'  be  enough  for  the  increase  in  the 
force  or  the  executive  officer.  We  feel  that  we  would  have  to  pay 
$4,000  to  get  the  right  kind  of  a  man  for  executive  officer. 


30  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Galltx(;ki;.  About  tlie  time  that  valuation  ceases  litigation 
Avill  coniinence.  will  it  not  ( 

Col.  KiTz.  Yes.  sir. 

Senator  (TALLiNGf:i;.  I  think  so. 

Col.  KuTz.  But  that  will  make  it  all  the  more  necessary  to  keep  up 
to  date  with  the  valuation. 

Senator  (tallincjer.  Yes.  I  think  von  will  need  a  good  force  to 
fight  that  battle. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  We  realize  that :  yes,  sir.  But  it  seems  to 
us  that,  looking  at  the  work  of  this  commission  for  a  long  time  in  the 
future,  we  should  not  be  dependent  for  our  executive  officer  upon  an 
Army  officer  who  may  be  taken  away  at  any  moment,  and  who  is 
sure  to  be  taken  away  in  four  years.  He  could  not  possibly  serve 
more  than  four  years,  and  the  exigencies  of  the  Army  service  might 
very  well  call  him  away  before  that. 

DUTIES  OF   3IE:mBERS  of   public   UTILITIES  COMMISSION. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Pardon  me  for  diverging  somewhat. 
Mr.  XeAvman.  do  you  find  that  the  commi.ssioners  have  sufficient  time 
as  commissioners  to  devote  to  this  Public  Utilities  Commission^  Is 
it  vour  impression  that  the  Public  I'tilities  Commission  can  l^e  served 
by  the  conmiissioners  and  looked  after  ^  It  seems  to  me  there  are  so 
many  duties.  I  do  not  see  how  you  can  get  the  time  to  give  it  sufficient 
attention.  It  has  suggested  itself  to  me  that  it  was  pretty  hard  for 
you  to  find  time  to  look  after  this  matter  in  connection  with  your 
other  matters. 

Commissioner  Xewman.  AVe  do  manage  to  find  the  time:  and  we 
think  the  advantage  of  having  the  work  centralized — that  is.  the 
duties  of  the  commissioners  and  the  duties  of  the  Public  Utilities 
Commission  centralized — in  the  same  board  outweighs  any  possible 
disadvantage  of  its  being  too  much  for  one  board  to  do.  It  is  not  too 
much.    We  can  do  it,  even  though  it  does  require  a  great  deal  of  time. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  In  Baltimore  city — of  course  it  is 
larger  than  Washington — we  have  a  commission  which  gives  its  entire 
time  to  the  work  of  the  utilities  commission. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Of  couse  y{;u  have  a  much  bigger  field 
there,  and  that  is  a  State  commission. 

Senator  S:mith  of  ISIaryland.  Yes.  it  is  a  State  commission;  but  the 
business  is  mostly  in  Baltimore. 

Col.  KuTz.  If  we  have  a  good  working  organization.  I  believe  that 
the  commissioners  can  do  both:  but  if  we  are  handicapped  in  our  or- 
ganization, we  have  to  devote  a  lot  of  time  to  delving  into  detail-  that 
otherwise  would  be  thrown  on  subordinates. 

Senator  Smith  of  ISIaryland.  Your  idea  is  that  the  information  you 
have  as  District  Commissioners  is  valuable  to  you  as  membei's  "of  the 
Public  I^tilities  Commission? 

Col.  KuTz.  A'ery:  yes.  sir. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes.  sir:  it  is  very  valuable:  and.  vice 
versa,  the  information  we  have  as  Public  Utilities  Commissioners  is 
valuable  to  us  as  Commissioners  of  the  District. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  In  many  matters  the  two  jurisdictions 
interlock. 

Col.  KuTz.  Especially  in  extension  of  service. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1017.  31 

CommiE.si'  nei-  Xew^iax.  And  in  maintenance  of  track  and  way. 
Senatoi-  Galltnger.  We  should  like  your  estimate  on  that  item. 
Yon  think  you  need  it. 

Commissioner  Xe'\v:max.  Yes;  we  need  that  very  badly. 

STREET-CLEANING   DIVISION. 

Col.  KuTz.  There  is  one  item,  at  the  bottom  of  page  10,  line  "23, 
where  there  is  a  sugoested  increase  in  the  salary  of  the  superintend- 
ent of  the  street-cleaning  division  from  $"2.500 "to  $3,000.  This  is  a 
position  that  has  grown  in  importance,  and  we  feel  that  the  incum- 
bent is  underpaid.  He  is  an  engineer,  and  has  built  up  a  splendid 
organization.  He  has  not  only  the  street-cleaning  work,  but  the  col- 
lection of  garbage  and  refuse  and  ashes  under  his  supervision.  He 
has  about  500  employees  and  supervises  the  expenditure  of  about  half 
a  million  dollars  a  year.  He  has  something  like  175  animals  in  his 
care,  and  two  large  stables,  and  we  feel  that  those  responsibilities 
merit  an  increased  compensation.  Nearly  all  the  heads  of  depart- 
ments get  $3,000  and  more,  except  in  the  electrical  dei)artment  and 
in  the  street-cleaning  department,  where  the  salaries  are  $2,500.  I 
should  like  to  have  both  of  those  positions  increased  to  $3,000.  the 
minimum  which  is  ])aid  to  other  heads  of  departments.  Some  of  them 
get  $3,000,  some  $3,300.  some  $3,500,  and  one  gets  $3,G00,  and  we 
would  like  to  put  this  salary  up  to  the  minimum  salary  for  that  class 
of  employees — heads  of  departments.  I  think  the  increase  for  the 
sujierintenclent  is  the  more  imiwrtant.  and  if  both  of  the  recom- 
mended increases  are  not  granted.  I  hope  whatever  is  granted  will 
i)e  granted  to  the  head  of  the  department  rather  than  to  his  first 
assistant. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  We  could  not  very  well  cut  that 
down. 

Commissioner  Xewmax'.  AVe  do  not  advocate  reducing. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^laryland.  But  you  do  advocate  increasing  the 
salary  of  the  sui)erintendent? 

Col.  Kutz.  Yes,  very  strongly. 

Commissioner  Xewman.  Senator  Gallinger.  I  assume  you  have  the 
same  experience  I  have,  that  you  find  people  who  come  to  the  city 
to  visit  comment  on  its  being  a  clean  city. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Commissioner  Xewman.  This  is  the  man  who  does  that  job. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  He  has  about  500  employees:  and 
how  many  animals? 

Col.  Kutz.  One  hundred  and  seventy-five  animals. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^laryland.  Is  he  supposed  to  give  these  matters 
personal  attention? 

Col.  Kutz.  He  is  on  the  job  every  day.  and  all  day,  and  he  works 
long  hours,  and  he  has  builit  up  a  very  efficient  organization. 

department  of  insurance. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  On  page  11  I  see  the  amendment 
giving  you  a  ''  deputy  and  examiner,''  in  the  department  of  insur- 
ance, went  out  on  a  point  of  order. 

Commissioner  Xewman.  Yes.  sir. 


32  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  think  that  it  is  important 
to  have  a  deputy.  Avho  may  perforin  the  duties  of  the  superintendent '? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes.  This  is  in  Commissioner  Brown- 
loAv's  department. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  There  are  two  positions  now  in  that 
department  at  $1.700 — the  examiner  and  the  statistician.  The  ex- 
aminer's duties  are  very  much  more  responsible.  He  has  to  be  an 
expert  accountant  who  can  go  into  an  insurance  office  and  examine 
books  and  not  only  see  vchat  is  on  the  surface,  but  interpret  the 
underlying  facts.  We  were  very  desirous  that  the  word  "  deputy  " 
should  be  added,  so  that  if  the  superintendent  of  insurance  is  out 
of  the  city,  there  shall  be  somebody  in  that  office  who  can  act.  Under 
the  present  law  if  the  superintendent  of  insurance  should  be  some- 
where out  of  the  city,  either  on  his  vacation  or  examining  an  out-of- 
town  company — and  he  is  absent  from  the  city  very  frequently — and 
a  case  should  come  up  where  another  examination  ought  to  be  or- 
dered, this  man.  although  he  is  an  examiner,  can  not  go  out  and 
examine  that  company  until  he  can  get  the  necessary  papers  order- 
ing the  examination  to  the  superintendent  to  be  signed.  There  ought 
to  be  somebody  in  the  District  of  Columbia  all  the  time  who  can  act 
in  that  capacity. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Xobody  else  can  issue  a  license. 

Commissioner  Broavxloaw  Xo.  When  the  superintendent  of  in- 
surance is  out  of  the  city  we  have  no  insurance  department. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Does  the  superintendent  of  insur- 
ance give  his  entire  time  to  the  duties  of  this  office  ( 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallixger.  And  he  is  a  very  efficient  man.  too. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  This  went  out  on  a  point  of  order  in 
the  House  i 

Commissioner  X^ewmax.  The  committee  reported  it :  yes. 

exforcemext  of  child-labor  laav. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  At  the  top  of  page  12  is  an  item  that 
was  omitted.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  discussion  about  it  on  the 
floor  of  the  House.  That  is  one  we  would  like  to  see  in.  It  is  an 
estimate  for  two  inspectors,  at  $1,200  each,  to  look  after  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  child-labor  law  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  ^Mien  this 
law  was  first  passed  provision  was  made  for  two  inspectors,  at  $1,200 
each.  A  few  years  later  a  law  was  passed  directing  that  two  privates 
of  the  Metropolital  police  force  be  assigned  to  that  duty.  Since  that 
time  the  Corigress  has  passed  a  laAv  making  an  eight-hour  day  for 
female  labor,  and  three  inspectors  were  appointed  to  perform  that 
duty.  We  think  that  this  law.  which  is  of  a  similar  character,  should 
be  put  on  the  same  basis,  and  these  two  policemen,  who  devote  their 
entire  time  to  this  work  should  be  restored  to  the  service.  The  cost 
is  just  the  same  now,  because  these  policemen  who  are  doing  this 
work  get  $1,200  a  year  each. 

Commissioner  XEw:NrAx.  The  net  result  would  be  to  give  us  two 
more  policemen.  * 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  To  give  us  two  more  policemen  that  we 
need  very  badly. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATION    BILL,  1917.  33 

Senator  Lea.  Th'en  it  ■would  not  be  an  increase  at  all  ? 
Commissioner  Xewman.  Yes;  but  not  an  increase  in  the  cost  of 
ln'rformino-  that  service. 
Senator  Lea.  It  Avould  add  to  the  appropriation? 
Commissioner  Xew^iax.  Yes. 

FREE   PUBLIC   LIBRARY. 

Commissioner  Browxlom'.  ^Ir.  Bowerman  telephoned  to  me  a 
while  ago  and  asked  me  to  request  the  committee  to  pass  over  the 
iiem  of  the  library  until  ^Ir.  Xoyes  or  some  other  member  of  the 
lioard  of  trustees,  and  the  librarian,  could  be  present. 

Senator  S:mitii  of  ^Maryland.  Then  you  have  nothing  to  say  on 
that  now '( 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  Xothing  to  say  on  that  now. 

Commissioner  Newman,  We  included  a  legislative  item  in  the 
library  estimate  that  we  were  surprised  to  find  caused  considerable 
opposition.     It  was  as  follows: 

Provided.  That  hereafcer  all  appointments  to  and  removals  from  annual  and 
other  positions  authorized  by  law  and  appropriations  for  the  Free  Public 
Library  shall  be  made  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  commissioners  appoint  the  trustees  of  the  libraiy  at  this  time, 
and  the  trustees  employ  everybody  who  is  in  the  library.  Our  reason 
for  presenting  it  was  really  more  academic  than  real,  as  we  thought 
there  was  no  particular  reason  why  this  District  institution  should  be 
on  any  basis  other  than  any  other  District  institution.  It  is  a  purely 
municipal  enterprise. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  As  it  is  now,  the  employees  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  chief? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  No  ;  the  employees  are  appointed  by  the 
board  of  trustees. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  By  the  board  of  trustees? 

Commissioner  Xew^man.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Your  idea  is  that  they  should  be  ap- 
pointed bj^  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Was  that  objected  to  on  the  part  of 
the  House  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Apparently.  There  was  not  much  dis- 
cussion of  it. 

Senator  Lea.  The  trustees  objected? 

Commissioner  Newman.  The  trustees  objected  and  the  House 
threw  it  out. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Do  the  trustees  have  salaries? 

Commissioner  Newman.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Dillingham.  They  serve  without  pay? 

Commissioner  Neavman.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Did  you  appear  before  the  House 
committee  in  regard  to  that? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^Maryland.  The  proposition  was  before  the 
House  committee  also? 

45737—16 3 


34  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Neavmax.  Yes:  and  we  also  appeared  liefore  the 
leg-islative  committee.  The  legisLative  committee  tabled  the  bill 
making  this  same  provision. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  see,  on  page  lo.  there  is  an  item 
providing  for  the  ''  traveling  expenses  of  the  librarian  incidental  to 
the  acquisition  of  books  In^  purchase,  gift,  or  exchange,  in  studying 
other  libra.ry  systems,  and  in  attending  lilirary  association  meetings^ 
at  the  discretion  of  the  board  of  library  trustees." 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes.  sir. 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  That  is  very  desirable.  We  think  that 
the  librarian  should  attend  the  annual  meetings  of  the  library  asso- 
ciation, but  I  am  sure  that  Mr.  Xoves  and  ]Mr.  Bowerman  will  cover 
that. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  All  right. 

CONTINGENT    AND    MISCELLANEOUS   EXPENSES. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  We  wanted  to  say  something  just  be- 
fore that,  about  the  automobiles. 

Senator  Curtis.  That  is  on  page  14? 
Commissioner  Brownlow.  On  page  14. 

."MAINTENANCE  OF  VEHICLES  FOR  EMPLOYEES. 

Commissioner  Newman.  On  page  14  occurs  anotlier  one  of  those 
items  in  which  vre  tried  to  stanclardize  and  harmonize  the  allow- 
ances for  vehicles.  There  is  an  increase  from  $300  to  $360  per  annum 
each  for  maintenance  of  vehicles.  Yon.  will  find  all  through  the 
bill  we  have  asked  $25  a  month  for  motor  vehicles,  for  maintenance. 
$20  a  month  for  horse-drawn  vehicles,  and  $12  for  motorcycles. 
Those  are  cases  in  which  an  allowance  is  made  to  a  man  who  uses 
his  own  vehicle. 

Senator  Smith  of  ISIaryland.  Does  the  riiotorcycle  man  furnish  his 
own  vehicle? 

Commissioner  Newman.  We  have  quite  a  number  (if  cases  of  that 
kind. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Quite  a  number  of  cases.  When 
he  does  not  furnish  his  own  vehicle  you  do  not  allov;  him  the  same, 
do  you? 

Commissioner  Newman.  No;  if  the  District  furnishes  the  motor- 
cvcle,  he  gets  no  allowance  at  all.  That  is  maintained  by  the  Dis- 
trict. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  This  allowance  is  to  those  who  do 
furnish  their  own  motorcycles? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes;  or  a  horse  and  buggy  or  an  automo- 
))ile.  We  found  there  were  diiferent  amounts  alloAved  to  different 
l)eople,  and  we  thought  we  would  standardize  it  and  make  them  all 
the  same,  and  it  resulted  in  some  cases  in  increases  and  in  some  cases 
in  decreases. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  I  wanted  to  call  attention  to  something 
on  page  16,  beginning  at  line  18 : 

That  no  automobile  shall  be  acquired  horcundcr,  by  purchase  or  exchange, 
at  a  cost,  includins  the  value  of  a  vehicle  exchan.ued,  exceedius?  Ji^TOO  i'or  one 
seating  iiioi-e  than  two  persons,  .'?500  for  one  seating  not  more  than  two  persons, 
or  $1,(R)0  lor  a  motor  truck. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  35 

The  present  appropriation  is  limited  to  $-2,000  for  cars  seating 
more  than  two  persons.  AVe  estimated  that  $1,600  was  enough  for  a 
car  seating  more  than  two  persons,  and  that  $600  was  enough  for  one 
seating  not  more  than  two  persons.  The  House  has  put  a  limit  of 
S700  on  a  car  seating  more  than  two  persons.  We  think  that  is  too 
low  to  get  the  proper  kind  of  a  car.  and  there  is  one  particular 
car  which  is  provided  for  in  the  House  l)ill  for  the  assessor's 
office.  Avhere.  if  this  appropriation  went  through,  we  could  not  buy 
I.  suitable  car.  We  want  this  car  to  take  the  place  of  a  horse-drawn 
van,  which  now  carries  the  three  assistant  assessors,  and  their  field 
books,  which  weigh  three  or  four  houndred  pounds,  and  take  up  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  room.  To  get  an  automobile  to  do  that  would 
be  very  advantageous,  because  they  could  get  over  the  territory  very 
much  more  rapidly,  but  it  would  have  to  be  a  large  car,  a  seven- 
passenger  car,  and  some  room  would  have  to  he  provided  for  those 
books  as  well  as  for  the  three  assessors. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Usually  four. 

Commissioner  Beownloav.  We  would  have  to  have  a  special  body 
made,  and  with  the  $700  limit  we  could  not  buy  that  car  at  all,  be- 
cause we  could  not  get  anything  for  that  price  that  would  serve  the 
purpose.  As  for  the  others.  Ave  think  that  the  limitation  is  a  little 
too  low. 

Col.  KuTz.  We  Avould  also  like  to  call  attention  to  the  amount 
appropriated  for  motor  vehicles.  $13,000.  the  estimate  being  $23,000. 

The  Chairman.  What  page? 

Col.  Krxz.  Page  1(),  line  9.  AVe  made  up  that  estimate  A'ery  care- 
fully, considering  not  only  the  maintenance,  but  the  cost  of  ex- 
changing the  various  vehicles  that  are  authorized  to  be  exchanged, 
and  for  the  purchase  of  three  new  ones:  and  with  the  increased 
price  for  gasoline  we  do  not  believe  that  the  amount  is  aii}^  too  large. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  We  have  been  getting  gas  for  10^  cents. 

Senator  Smith.  You  ha^-e  been  o-ettino-  $15,284,  ha^e  been  reduced 
to  $13,696,  and  you  ask  for  $23,860. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes,  sir. 

Commissioner  Beoavxloav.  We  get  gasoline  now  for  10^  cents, 
and  will  until  the  1st  of  July,  under  a  contract  for  the  fiscal  year. 
The  lowest  bid  price  for  the  fiscal  year  beginning  the  1st  of  next 
July  is  31  cents  a  gallon,  so  the  gasoline  cost  will  be  multiplied  by 
three. 

Senator  Smith.  Gasoline  is  not  31  cents  now? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  I  think  that  is  the  loAvest  bid  we  have, 
submitted  just  the  other  day,  for  an  annual  contract. 

Senator  Smith.  That  is  for  the  entire  year? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith.  But  you  can  buy  it  noAv  for  about  2-1:  cents,  can 
you  not? 

Commissioner  Broavxeoav.  Twenty-four  or  tAventy-fiA'e ;  but  the 
ladders  were  contemplating  a  contract  for  the  entire  year. 

Senator  Curtis.  Could  you  get  along  with  $20,000  there? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  I  can  look  that  up  very  easily. 

Senator  Curtis.  I  do  not  see  hoAv  they  could  reduce  it. 

Senator  Smith.  I  must  confess  I  do  not  see  how  you  could  do  it 
for  lower  than  vou  have  been  doing  it.     The  estimate  here  is  lower 


36  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

than  YOU  have  been  getting,  and  that  is  based  upon  the  fact  that  you 
have  been  getting  gasoline  at  10  cents  a  gallon. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  Yes,  sir.  That  estimate  was  made  last 
October,  on  a  10-cents-a-gallon  basis. 

Senator  Smith.  Could  you  tell  me  what  proportion  of  your  ex- 
pense is  for  gasoline  ? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  VCe  can  insert  that  very  easily.  Senator. 

Col.  KuTz.  We  will  insert  the  amount  in  the  record.     It  follows: 

Memoranda    conrcruinf/   the   estiniatcf!    for   the   ijuicha^c   and   maintenance   of 
motor  vehicles  for  the  fiscal  year  1917. 

Estimated  total  for  the  purchase  and  exchange  of  motor  vehicles $S,  300 

Estimated  cost  of  maintenance,  care,  etc.,  of  vehicles  now  owned, 
including  maintenance  of  new  vehicles : 

Gasoline $3,205 

Lubricating   oil 340 

Tires 3.  650 

Repairs  and  supplies T,  2S5 

Chauffeur  for  commissioners'  car 1,  OSO 

15.  560 

23.  860 

Senator  Gallinger.  Are  the  motor  vehicles  allowed  in  this  bill  the 
same  in  number  as  under  the  bill  of  last  year? 

Col.  KuTZ.  There  are  three  new  ones  to  be  purchased. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Two  additional  vehicles. 

Col.  KuTz.  One  additional  passenger  vehicle  to  be  maintained. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Xo:  two,  one  in  the  assessors  office  and 
one  in  the  Board  of  Children's  Guardians. 

Senator  Smith.  If  I  understood  Commissioner  Brownlow,  accord- 
ing to  the  price  you  have  now.  if  you  contracted  for  it,  it  would  cost 
you  three  times  as  much  as  you  are  now  paying? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith.  If  you  were  to  contract  for  it  ? 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  Yes. 

Col.  KuTz.  On  page  16,  line  21.  the  House  has  placed  a  limit  of  a 
thousand  dollars  for  a  motor  truck.  I  think  that  is  an  unwise  limi- 
tation. Some  light  trucks  can  be  purchased  for  a  thousand  dollars, 
but  we  also  have  to  have  some  heavy  trucks,  some  trucks  that  will 
cost  as  much  as  $2,000.  and  it  would  be  false  economy  to  buy  a  light 
truck  if  you  have  heavy  work  to  do.  We  have  a  great  variety  of 
work,  some  involving  verv  heavv  hauling. 

Senator  Smith.  What  Idnd  of  a  truck  did  you  want  to  buy  now, 
a  heavv  one  or  a  light  one?  .     . 

Col.'KuTz.  I  did  not  refer  to  any  particular  truck,  but  this  is  a 
limitation  on  all  trucks  that  are  purchased  by  the  District,  ^o  mat- 
ter what  the  purpose  of  the  truck  is.  we  can  not  expend  more  than 
$1,000  for  it.  We  wanted  a  truck,  for  instance,  this  year  for  the 
street-cleaning  department,  to  go  around  and  collect  the  bags  full 
of  street  sweepings.  We  can  not  buv  a  truck  for  $1,000;  that  is, 
an  automobile  truck  suitable  for  that  work:  it  will  not  be  heavy 
enough.  We  ought  to  have  a  truck  costing  nearer  $2,000  for  that 
work,  in  order  to  net  sufficient  capacity  and  weight.  This  truck  is 
carried  in  another"  item,  but  this  limitation  applies  to  every  truck 
that  is  purchased  under  the  bill. 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  37 

Senator  Galltxger.  This  limitation  of  $700,  on  line  20,  page  16, 
you  think  is  too  low.  What  would  your  suggestion  be  concerning 
that  ? 

Commissioner  Xewjiax.  We  estimated  $1,600.  We  may  have  had 
it  a  little  high.  Sixteen  hundred  I  do  not  think  is  too  high  for  this 
car  that  we  want  for  the  assessor's  office. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  The  limit  in  existing  law  is  $2,000.  We 
cut  it  down  to  $1,600  in  our  estimates,  and  the  House  cut  it  down 
to  $700. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  ought  to  be  enabled  to  get  a  good  car,  and 
they  ought  to  put  a  provision  there  allowing  you  to  buy  the  kind  of 
a  car  you  want,  instead  of  limiting  you  to  $700,  it  seems  to  me. 

Senator  Lea.  Would  $1,000  me  satisfactory  as  a  limit  for  every- 
thing except  your  assessor's  car? 

Col.  KuTz.  Except  for  that  one  car.  I  think  it  would. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  I  think  $1,000  would  be  sufficient,  ex- 
cept for  that  one  car.     That  car  ought  to  he  at  least  $1,600. 

Col.  KuTz.  We  have  some  trucks  in  the  water  department  that  have 
cost  over  $2,000,  and  I  think  they  represent  a  good  investment,  be- 
cause we  have  heavy  pipe  and  heavy  castings  to  haul  that  could  not 
be  economically  hauled  on  a  $1,000*  truck.  We  would  simply  have 
to  hire  the  transportation  of  that  kind  of  material  if  Ave  were  limited 
in  the  purchase  of  trucks  to  the  expenditure  of  $1,000  for  a  truck. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  On  page  17  there  is  an  item  for  a 
central  garage. 

Senator  Lea.  Have  you  a  contract  now  for  taking  care  of  auto- 
mobiles for  the  District? 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo,  sir.  They  are  scattered  around  in  half  a  dozen 
different  places,  passenger-carrying  automobiles. 

Senator  Lea,  What  is  the  average  cost  per  month  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  Of  maintaining  them? 

Senator  Lea.  Yes. 

Col.  KuTz,  We  have  inserted  in  the  estimates  a  table,  on  page  47, 
which  gives  the  cost  for  the  various  cars,  and  the  estimate  is  divided 
up  into  repairs,  tires,  oil,  etc.,  and  the  totals  inserted. 

Senator  Curtis,  You  haven't  that  just  on  the  storage? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  There  are  no  storage  charges.  All  the 
cars  are  kept  in  District  property,  police  stations,  or  stables,  or  fire 
stations:  wherever  there  is  a  convenient  location  for  the  people  who 
are  going  to  use  that  vehicle — it  is  kept  there. 

Col.  Kl'tz.  We  would  like  very  much  to  concentrate  the  passen- 
ger-carrying vehicles.  We  inserted  in  the  estimates  an  item  for  a 
central  garage  in  the  rear  of  the  District  Building,  where  we  could 
house  all  the  passenger-carrying  A'ehicles  operated  by  the  District 
government.  Xow  they  are  scattered,  and  we  can  not  regulate  their 
use  properly  as  between  the  different  departments.  They  are  now 
assigned  to  the  different  departments,  and  we  want  to  concentrate 
them  in  a  single  garage  and  put  them  under  the  control  of  a 
single  man,  so  that  anybody  who  wants  passenger  transportation 
for  official  purposes  can  go  to  the  garage. 

Senator  Smith.  Would  it  be  inconvenient — there  are  so  many 
different  locations  of  these  people  who  use  them — if  you  should 
centralize  them  in  a  central  location? 


38  DISTRICT    OF    COLU:\IBIA    APPEOPPJATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Col.  KuTz.  I  do  not  think  it  would  for  the  passenger-carrying 
vehicles.  I  think  the  ideal  condition  Avould  be  for  every  man  to 
report  to  the  District  Building  and  to  start  from  there,  and  when 
he  gets  through  to  return  the  machine  to  the  District  Building  and 
go  from  there  to  his  home. 

Senator  Lea.  What  is  your  estimate  of  the  cost  of  maintaining 
and  operating  this  central  garage  after  it  is  built? 

Col.  KiTz.  We  have  not  submitted  any  special  item  of  cost,  be- 
cause we  are  going  to  care  for  the  machines  just  as  we  are  doing 
now.  But  instead  of  having  half  a  dozen  different  places,  we  would 
concentrate  in  one. 

Senator  Lea.  Have  you  any  figures  as  to  what  this  garage  would 
cost  you  to  operate  after  its  construction  (  I  understand  you  do 
not  Avant  any  apj^ropriation  for  that  now. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  We  believe  the  appropriation  for  the 
vehicles  at  the  various  places  could  be  lessened.  . 

Senator  Lea.  Have  you  any  figures  to  show  that? 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo;  I  have  not.  because  these  machines  are  cared  for 
at  different  places,  largely  at  stables  where  there  are  horse-drawn 
vehicles,  and  we  expect  to  reduce  the  force  at  these  places  and  move 
it  down  to  the  central  garage.  We  feel  that  the  economy  is  not 
economy  in  the  operation  so  much  as  economy  in  the  number  of 
machines  that  would  be  required  to  do  a  given  amount  of  work. 
In  other  words,  instead  of  the  cars  being  as>igned  to  the  building 
inspector,  the  water  de]^artment.  the  surveyor,  and  the  various  other 
departments,  they  would  all  be  there  under  one  management,  and 
they  would  be  taken  out  as  they  were  required  and  then  returned  to 
the  garage. 

Senator  Dillingham.  In  other  Avords.  you  mean  they  would  not 
be  used  so  much  for  private  purposes  ? 

Col.  Ki'Tz.  Yes.  And  another  reason  is  that  the  cars  are  now  idle 
a  part  of  the  time.  Department  heads  do  not  use  the  cars  all  of 
the  time,  but  they  hold  them  for  possible  use  instead  of  turning 
them  in  to  some  central  garage  Avhere  they  would  be  available  for 
the  next  man. 

Senator  Smith.  Hoav  many  machines  would  you  want  this  garage 
to  be  capable  of  accommodating? 

Col.  KuTz.  We  have  now,  I  think,  about  17  passenger-carrying 
vehicles,  and  Ave  aim  to  make  this  large  enough  to  acconnnodate  25, 
providing  for  a  slight  increase  that  Avill  take  place  in  the  future, 
according  to  our  exjiectations. 

Senator  SArrrii.  What  does  it  cost  now  to  take  care  of  those  under 
the  pi-esent  management  ? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  The  storage  does  not  cost  anythii^g. 

Senator  Smith.  It  does  not  cost  anything? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  The  storage  does  not.  because  we  keep 
them  in  District  i)roi)erty — fire  stations,  police  stations,  etc. 

Senator  Smith.  This  Avould  add  considerable  expense,  Avould  it 
not? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  That  Avould  be  the  interest  on  the  in- 
vestment, of  course,  in  the  site,  so  far  as  storage  is  concerned.  It 
would  not  add  anything  to  the  cost  of  maintenance. 

Senator  Lea.  You  Avould  have  to  have  several  operators  to  run 
this,  a  superintendent  of  garage  and  his  assistants. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  39 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes;  but  we  think  the  reduction  of  force  in  the  phices 
where  they  are  now  kei)t  wouhl  be  sufficient  to  man  the  garage,  and 
we  would  take  one  man  from  this  stable  antl  another  one"  from  that. 

Senator  Gallingek.  Are  these  cars  operated  by  the  officials,  or 
does  each  official  have  a  chauffeur? 

Col.  KuTz.  Most  of  them  are  operated  by  the  officials,  and  that  is 
a  i)ractice  which  we  want  to  encourage,  too. 

Connnissioner  Xewmax.  An  official  to  whom  a  car  has  been  as- 
signed by  the  process  of  an  appropriation.  Say  this  assessor's  car 
was  provided,  that  would  be  known  -as  the  assessor's  car.  It  would 
be  under  his  control.  The  car  would  be  sitting  outside  of  the  build- 
ing, say,  at  0  o'clock  in  the  morning  waiting  for  him  to  use  it.  It 
might  be  that  that  day  the  assessors  were  not  going  out  and  he  would 
send  out  ^yord  "  Go  on  to  wherever  you  are  staying,  at  the  stable  or 
wherever  it  is.  We  will  not  need  you  to-day."  The  use  of  that  car 
is  lost  for  that  time.  If  we  had  this  central  garage,  the  assessor 
would  not  have  a  car  waiting  for  him. 

Senator  S^iith.  You  would  use  the  assessor's  car  for  some  other 
purpose  I 

Connnissioner  Xewmax.  Somebody  else  Avould  use  that  car  that 
day :  and  by  having  one  man  at  the  garage  responsible  for  all  of  them 
he  would  soon  learn  the  actual  needs  of  the  various  departments  and 
would  apportion  these  cars  out  and  keep  all  of  them  busy  and  get  the 
maximum  use  out  of  all  of  them. 

Senator  Smith.  Under  that  arrangement.  Mr.  Xewman,  could  you 
not  do  with  less  cars '( 

Col.  KuTz.  Senator,  when  the  commissioners  were  making  up  their 
estimates  they  received  tentative  estimates  from  the  heads  of  depart- 
ments, and  every  department  asked  for  increased  passenger-carrying 
transportation.  The  commissioners  considered  this  matter  very  care- 
fully and  decided  that,  instead  of  asking  for  the  additional  trans- 
portation, we  Avould  ask  for  a  central  garage,  and  thereby  make  the 
transportation  that  we  now  have  cover  the  increased  need. 

Senator  Smith.  Then  your  judgment  is.  if  you  do  not  get  a  garage, 
you  would  have  to  have  more  cars  I 

Col.  KuTz.  I  think  so.     I  think  Ave  ought  to. 

Senator  Smi^  h.  But  you  do  maintain  that  with  a  garage  you  can 
do  with  less  cars  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.  sir. 

Senator  Lea.  With  the  same  number  they  have  now. 

Col.  KuTZ.  With  the  same  number  we  have  now. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  with  less  than  they  would  have  to  have  with- 
out a  garage. 

Senator  (tallixger.  Is  the  land  adjoining  the  District  Building 
and  in  the  rear  of  it  owned  by  the  Government  ( 

Connnissioner  New.aiax.  Xo.     We  would  have  to  buy  the  site. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  $35,000  is  intended  to  cover  the  land  and 
the  building? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.  sir. 

Senator  Lea.  Do  you  think  you  could  do  it  at  that  price  ? 

Commissioner  Xew.max.  We  have  estimated  that  pretty  carefully. 

Col.  KuTz.  AVe  have  looked  at  sevei-al  sites  in  rear  of  the  building, 
and  we  have  taken  a  value  based  on  the  value  shown  bv  the  assessor's 


40  DISTRICT    or    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

])ooks.  and  had  a  rough  estimate  prepared  of  the  cost  of  the  build- 
ing. I  believe  it  will  be  a  very  good  investment,  an  investment 
tending  toward  economy. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  At  the  top  of  page  18.  line  3.  we  ask  for 
$500  additional  for  postage  for  official  mail  matter.  It  was  not 
allowed  by  the  House.  The  po.'^tage  appropriation  is  in  very  bad 
condition  for  this  year.  AVe  shall  have  to  ask  for  a  deficiency  appro- 
priation, due  to  the  fact  of  the  increase  of  the  business  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

Senator  Smith.  In  other  words,  if  you  do  not  get  a  yearly  you  will 
have  to  have  a  special  appropriation? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Yes. 

Commissioner  Xew3iax.  It  will  have  to  l^e  paid  somewhere. 

Senator  Smith.  There  is  a  deficienc}'  which  has  to  be  made  good 
for  how  much  ? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  "We  have  not  figured  it  out.  This  is  the 
last  month  of  the  fiscal  year.    But  we  can  not  go  through  the  month. 

Senator  Smith.  If  you  get  this  $11,500,  would  you  have  to  have  a 
special  ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  "We  will  have  a  deficiency  this  year,  an}'- 
way. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  I  real)  v  believe,  although  we  estimate  for 
$11,500.  that  $12,000  will  be  needed. 

Col.  KuTz.  I  would  like  to  call  attention  to  the  bottom  of  page  17. 
There  is  existing  authority  for  certain  telephones  connected  with  the 
system  of  the  Chesapeake  &  Potomac  Telephone  Co.  We  would  like 
to  change  the  phraseology  of  that  paragraph  in  two  wavs.  One  is 
to  add  three  employees  to  the  number  authorized  to  have  telephones, 
and  then  also  authorize  these  telephones  to  be  connected  with  the  C.  & 
P.  Telephone  Co.,  or  with  the  District  of  Columbia  telephone  switch- 
board. We  can  effect  an  economy  if  the  language  of  the  authorization 
is  changed.  Telephones  connected  with  the  C.  &  P.  Telephone  Co.  are 
charged  at  the  regular  rates,  $4  a  month.  If  we  can  connect  with  the 
District  of  Columbia  telephone  switchboard,  it  will  cost  us  only  50 
cents  a  year  in  addition  to  trunk-line  charge.  We  have  prepared 
some  new  language  to  take  the  place  of  the  last  five  lines  on  page  IT. 
I  will  say  that  this  revised  language  was  not  submitted  with  the  esti- 
mate, because  the  investigation  that  led  to  this  conclusion  was  not 
made  until  after  the  estimates  were  prepared. 

Senator  Smith.  This  does  not  involve  any  increased  amount  of 
money  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo,  sir.    It  is  going  to  involve  a  reduction. 

Senator  Smith.  A  decrease  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  A  decrease. 

Senator  Gallixger.  In  what  way  are  you  prevented  from  connect- 
ing with  the  District  of  Columbia  switchboard  now? 

Col.  KuTz.  By  this  language. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Have  you  been  inhibited  by  the  language  in 
former  bills? 

Col.  KuTz.  There  was  a  general  law  that  prohibited  the  mainte- 
nance of  telephones  in  private  residences. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  know  that. 

Col.  KuTz.  Then  this  language  was  inserted  to  make  certain  excep- 
tions.    The  exceptions  are  only  authorized  for  connection  with  the 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  41 

C.  &  P.  Telephone  Co.  We  can  connect  certain  of  these  employees' 
residences  with  our  own  system  and  save  over  $40  a  year  on  each  con- 
nection. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  have  not  a  telephone  company,  ha\  e  you, 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  a  separate  organization  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  No.  But  the  connection  will  be  made  through  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  switchboard. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Can  vou  do  that  under  vour  existing  contract 
with  the  C.  &  P.  Telephone  Co.  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir. 

Commissioner  Newman.  That  would  apply  to  only  these  people 
mentioned  in  this  paragraph. 

Col.  KuTz.  We  add  the  electrical  inspector  in  charge  of  the  fire- 
alarm  system,  one  fire-alarm  operator,  and  one  fire-alarm  repair  man, 
whom  we  feel  ought  to  be  connected  by  telephone  so  that  we  can  get 
them  at  night  in  case  there  is  any  damage  to  the  tire-alarm  system. 
But  that  will  involve  only  50  cents  a  year  for  each  one  plus  a  small 
trunk-line  charge. 

Senator  Gallinger.'  You  will  have  a  substitute  for  this  paragraph, 
as  I  understand  it? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir.    I  have  submitted  it. 

Senator  Lea.  Your  change  on  page  18  is  the  insertion  of  the  word 
"  hereafter,"  which  was  made  by  the  House  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  Senator. 

REPAIR  OF   MORGUE  BUILDING. 

Commissioner  Brown  low.  There  is  $3,500  in  the  current  law  which 
was  not  expended  at  the  time  the  estimate  was  prepared.  That  was 
for  special  repairs,  and  $500  is  to  take  care  of  the  current  annual  re- 
pairs, not  a  duplication  of  permanent  repairs. 

Senator  Gallinger.  In  what  condition  is  the  morgue  building 
now  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  It  was  in  very  bad  condition. 

Senator  Smith.  We  made  an  appropriation  to  put  it  in  repair,  did 
we  not  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith.  And  that  has  been  done? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  That  has  been  done.  That  will  effect 
the  necessary  permanent  repairs,  but  it  is  necessary,  to  keep  the  build- 
ing going,  to  have  some  repairs  annualh'. 

Senator  Smith.  Did  we  make  no  appropriation  to  keep  the  build- 
ing up  ( 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Oh,  yes. 

Senator  Smith.  We  made  an  appropriation.  I  understand,  to  re- 
pair it  and  put  it  in  order. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith.  That  has  been  done  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  But  there  is  no  continuing  appropriation? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Xo  continuing  appropriation,  unless 
this  item  should  be  agreed  to. 

Senator  Gallinger.  They  do  not  have  an}-  continuing  appropria- 
tion for  anv  building  in  the  District  of  Columbia? 


42  DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917, 

Commissioner  Bro"\v>;low.  Xo,  sir.  I  mean,  there  is  no  other  fund 
we  could  use  for  this. 

Commissioner  New^iax,  We  do  for  school  buildings,  of  course. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Lump-sum  appropriations. 

Commissioner  Newman.  In  all  other  buildings  except  those  there 
is  authorization  to  make  minor  repairs  from  maintenance  appropria- 
tions. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes:  undoubtedly. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Col.  Kutz  suggests  that  there  should  be 
an  item  for  the  repair  of  the  morgue  building,  even  if  it  is  only  $100. 
Probably  $500  would  be  in  excess  of  the  actual  requirements,  but 
there  ought  to  be  some  fund  for  the  regular  annual  repairs  of  the 
morgue. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  you  think  that  would  be  better  than  to  make 
the  appropriation  when  the  necessities  of  the  case  demanded  it  ^ 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  Sir? 

Senator  Smith.  It  might  not  need  any  repairs  at  all. 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  Every  building  needs  some  minor  re- 
pairs during  the  year.  It  might  be  possible  to  care  for  this  by 
adding  the  words  ''and  repairs"  in  the  item  for  the  morgue. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  should  think  that  would  be  the  better  way. 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  In  this  item  on  page  19,  beginning  with 
line  3 : 

For  pni-ehase  and  maintenance,  hire  or  livery,  of  means  of  transportation  for 
the  coi'oner's  office  and  the  morgue,  jurors*  fees,  witness  fees,  removal  of  de- 
ceased persons,  making  autopsies,  ice.  disinfectants,  telephone  service,  and  other 
necessary  supplies  for  the  morgue,  and  the  necessary  expenses  of  holding  in- 
quests, including  stenographic  services  in  taking  testimony,  and  photographing 
unidentified  bodies. 

You  could  add  to  that  '*  and  repairs." 

Senator  Smith.  I  notice  they  have  given  a^ou  an  increase  of  $400 
over  Avhat  you  asked. 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith.  They  may  have  put  that  in. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Over  what  it  was  last  yeaw  $400  less  than  the 
estimate. 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  Four  hundred  more  than  Ave  had  last 
year.  So  that  by  changing  the  language  so  that  part  of  that  money 
could  be  used  for  making  the  current  repairs  Avould  meet  the  ne- 
cessity. 

Senator  Gallinger.  What  Avould  you  suggest? 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  That  the  language  include  "  repairs  to 
morgue.'' 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  might  have  it  in  line  7,  "  And  other  nec- 
essary supplies  and  repairs  for  the  morgue.*"  '- 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  Add  the  Avords  '*'"  and  repairs"  in  line  7. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Just  before  you  leave  that  paragraph; 
you  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  House  committee  gave  $400 
"more  than  the  api)ropriation.  We  asked  for  $4,800.  and  I  find  from 
a  reference  to  the  hearings  here  that  there  Avas  a  deficiency  last  year, 
under  the  $4,000  appropriation,  of  $8-27. 

Senator  Smith.  There  Avas  a  deficiency? 

Commissioner  Neavman.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  Is  that  deficiencv  likelv  to  occur  this  year? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  43 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes.  sir. 

Commissioner  Bhownlow.  It  is  beyond  onr  control,  the  matter  of 
expense  of  holding  inquests,  jurors'  fees,  and  matters  of  that  kind. 
They  are  beyond  the  control  of  the  commissioners. 

Commissioner  Xewman.  There  has  been  a  deficiency  gradually 
gro^Ying  almost  every  year  for  several  years. 

Senator  S:NriTH.  There  was  a  deficiency  this  year? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  There  was.  for  1915.  and  I  am  quite  sure 
there  will  be  one  for  1916  also. 

Commissioner  Bijowxlow.  Fortunately  we  have  not  killed  as  many 
people  with  automobiles  as  Ave  did  last  year. 

Commissioner  Xr.wiNrAX.  Those  are  services  that  have  to  be  ren- 
dered. 

Senator  Smith.  I  think  we  had  probably  better  put  it  at  $4,800, 
and  leave  out  this  $500. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  And  put  in  those  words  ''  and  repairs." 

Senator  Smith.  Yes. 

OFFICE  OF  THE  REGISTER  OF  WILLS. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  do  not  want  those  new  items  on  page  -20, 
do  you  i 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  Yes:  we  want  them. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Are  they  in  the  habit,  in  the  District  of  Col- 
umbia to  any  extent,  of  padding  deeds  of  trust  and  making  it  appear 
tliat  a  larger  amount  is  loaned  on  a  piece  of  propertv  than  is  actually 
the  fact '( 

Commissioner  Browxloav.  It  is  a  very  frequent  occurrence,  and  of 
course,  the  majority  of  deeds  show  merely  a  nominal  consideration. 

Senator  Curtis.  This  only  applies  to  deeds  of  trust,  does  it  not  ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Xo:  deeds  and  deeds  of  trust. 

Senator  Curtis.  Why  would  you  want  that? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  Want  the  true  consideration? 

Senator  Curtis.  Yes. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  There  are  two  reasons.  One  is  that 
the  assessor's  office  shall  have  that  information  in  reaching  the  true 
value,  and  the  other  is  to  correct  a  practice  that  has  grown  up  to 
some  extent  in  the  District  of  Columbia  of  the  use  of  a  third  person 
in  a  transaction  involving  the  sale  of  real  estate,  so  that  the  owner 
of  the  real  estate  deeds  it  to  one  man  for  a  certain  nominal  con- 
sideration and  does  not  get  the  full  consideration  that  actually 
passes  from  the  bona  fide  purchaser. 

Senator  Curtis.  The  go-between  gets  it  I 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  The  go-between  gets  the  rake-oflf. 

Senator  Curtis.  The  go-between  gets  a  larger  price  than  the  man 
who  sells? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  Yes,  sir. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  It  is  not  an  exceptional  thing  at  all.  but 
it  is  a  thing  that  has  happened  very  frequently  in  Washington,  that 
a  seller  has  received  his  money  from  a  go-between,  and  the  buyer 
has  paid  the  money  to  a  go-between,  and  the  buyer  does  not  know 
how  much  the  seller  receives,  and  the  seller  does  not  know  how  nuich 
the  buyer  gives.  There  have  been  two  or  three  cases  in  which  suits 
have  been  brought,  cases  where  accidentally  the  buyer  and  the  seller 
got  together  afterwards  and  found  there  had  been  a  very  large  sum 


44  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  lOlT. 

of  money  split  up  Ijetween  the  two  agents,  one  representing  the 
bin-er  and  one  representing  the  seller,  but  not  the  go-between,  be- 
cause the  go-between  is  usually  a  clerk  in  one  of  the  agent's  offices; 
and  one  case  which  was  a  very  bad  case  went  to  court  and  the  agents 
were  required  to  make  a  restoration  of  a  large  sum  of  money— -I  do 
not  recall  to  which  party,  but  to  one  or  the  other.  It  is  not  an  in- 
frequent thing,  and  it  is  not  a  rare  thing.  It  happens  very  fre- 
quently. I  loiow  of  a  number  of  lawyers  who  have  told  me  of  cases 
that  they  have  brought  to  correct  conditions  of  that  kind.  We  feel 
as  if  this  would  prevent  it  absolutely. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  And  then,  as  far  as  deeds  of  trust  are 
concerned,  a  deed  of  trust  may  be  recorded  showing  a  loan  of 
$20,000  on  a  piece  of  real  estate,  when  perhaps  the  loan  was  only 
$13,000.  Then  the  man  goes  out  to  sell  this  property  and  says.  "  That 
is  a  fine  piece  of  property.  You  can  see  that  we  borrowed  $20,000 
on  it." 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  is  an  abuse. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  We  feel  this  legislation  would  correct 
those  two  evils.    Then,  it  would  greatly  assist  the  assessor. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Is  there  ever  a  transfer  of  a  piece  of  property 
in  the  District  of  Columbia  without  there  being  a  go-between  ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Almost  never. 

Senator  Gallixger.  You  can  not  go  and  buy  a  piece  of  property 
here  without  pa34ng  a  commission.  You  can  not  buy  it  from  the 
owner  by  an}"  possibility.  At  least.  I  have  investigated  it  enough  to 
think  that  is  the  almost  universal  practice. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  As  I  say,  it  is  not  imaginary  or  an  an- 
ticipated affair.    It  is  a  thing  that  has  happened  a  great  many  times. 

Senator  Lea.  There  is  also  a  change  in  the  method  of  appoint- 
ment. 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  Yes.  The  register  of  wills  is  now  ap- 
pointed by  the  President,  and  this  provides  that  he  shall  be  appointed 
by  the  court. 

Senator  Lea.  And  the  recorder  of  deeds 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  Yes;  he  is  to  be  appointed  by  the  com- 
missioners. The  register  of  wills  in  this  jurisdiction  is  practically 
the  clerk  of  the  probate  court,  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District 
of  Columbia  is  the  probate  court  here.  The  register  of  wills  prepares 
probate  cases,  and  that  officer  ought  to  be  appointed  by  the  supreme 
court,  just  as  the  other  clerks  of  the  courts  are  appointed.  In  the 
case  of  the  recorder  of  deeds,  he  is  appointed  by  the  President.  We 
think  that  he  is  a  local  officer,  and  ought  to  be  appointed  by  the 
commissioners,  and  that  the  President  ought  not  to  be  charged  with 
that. 

Commissioner  XEw:\rAX.  The  recorder  of  deeds  has  no  duties  of  a 
judicial  character  whatever.  lie  is  not  in  any  sense  a  court  officer. 
He  is  an  officer  of  the  civil  government,  actually,  so  far  as  the  work 
he  does  is  concerned. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  House  did  not  take  kindlv  to  that,  did 
they? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  The  House  passed  those  as  separate  leg- 
islative provisions. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  They  were  passed  before  this  bill  was  re- 
ported. Senator. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPKOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  45 

MOTOR  VEHICLE  TAGS. 

Commissioner  BKOAv^'LOAV.  At  the  bottom  of  page  20  is  an  item  to 
be  inserted  providing  for  annual  identification  tags  and  registration 
of  motor  vehicles.  Practically  ever}'  jurisdiction  in  the  United 
States,  so  far  as  I  know,  except  the  District  of  Columbia,  requires  an 
annual  license  tag  and  identification  tag  for  automobiles.  In  the 
District  of  Columbia  you  pay  $:2  for  a  tag.  and  it  is  good  as  long  as 
you  have  a  car.  That  means  that  our  numbers  have  gone  up  now  into 
the  forty  thousands.  A  great  many  of  the  outstanding  numbers  have 
been  lost,  or  are  dead  numbers,  the  car  has  been  sold,  or  scrapped  and 
gone,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  properly  to  identify  the  cars. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Do  they  pay  an  annual  tax  ? 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  No,  sir;  not  except  a  personal  tax. 

Senator  Smith.  Then  you  would  have  to  change  your  regulation 
in  regard  to  that,  because  they  get  a  license  now  which  holds  good 
forever  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Yes;  one  that  holds  good  forever. 

Senator  Smith.  Under  this  arrangement  they  would  have  to  get 
an  annual  tag  and  pay  the  $2  every  year  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  E^ery  year.  It  would  greatly  facilitate 
the  work  of  the  police  department. 

Senator  Gallixger.  And  greatly  increase  the  revenues  of  the 
District? 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  Yes. 

Senator  Gallixger.  At  the  expense  of  citizens? 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  E^en  if  it  were  but  nominal.  It  costs 
us  between  $15  and  $20  to  recover  a  stolen  automobile.  A  great 
many  of  them  are  stolen.  We  think  the  police  department  here  has 
an  excellent  record.  Of  all  the  automobiles  that  have  been  stolen 
since  we  have  had  them  in  the  District  of  Columbia  all  have  been 
recovered  except  four,  unless  there  have  been  some  in  the  last  week  or 
10  days,  and  down  to  the  1st  of  last  July  all  had  been  recovered  but 
one. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  You  are  making  a  good  argument  against 
this  law. 

Commissioner  Brownloav.  No.  Some  of  these  dead  numbers  are 
used  by  automobiles  that  are  used  for  criminal  purposes.  We  found 
an  automobile  that  was  being  used  b}"  a  burglar  going  from  place  to 
place,  and  the  number  of  the  car  was  finally  gotten  so  that  the  man 
could  be  looked  up ;  and  we  looked  it  up,  and  he  was  one  of  the 
most  respectable  citizens  of  the  District,  a  lawyer  of  standing,  who 
had  sold  his  car  and  sold  the  number  on  it.  We  are  continually  find- 
ing men  who  sold  cars  with  the  numbers.  In  this  case  the  identifica- 
tion tag  Avas  four  or  five  years  old. 

Senator  Lea.  This  amendment  leaves  the  commissioners  the  right 
to  fix  the  fee. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  see  that  Mr.  Page  in  the  hearing  says  he 
has  a  bill  infinitely  better  than  yours. 

Col.  KuTz.  The  commissioners  reported  on  Mr.  Page's  bill,  and 
on  the  item  of  increased  taxation  the  commissioners  took  this  ground, 
that  if  an  annual  license  tax  were  charged,  owners  should  not  also 
pay  a  tax  on  the  automobile  as  personal  property,  as  they  do  now. 


46  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Gaixinger.  That  would  be  an  offset. 

Col.  KuTz.  It  is  not  desired  to  increase  the  revenues,  but  the  an- 
nual renewal  is  a  very  desirable  thing. 

Senator  Smith.  How  many  have  you  in  the  District  of  Columbia? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  ^Ye  do  not  know.  There  have  been  over 
30.000  numljers  issued. 

Senator  Smith.  That  includes  all  that  are  used  in  the  District  ( 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  All  that  have  ever  been  issued. 

Senator  Smith.  From  other  States  they  have  to  get  a  license  from 
you.  and  of  course  that  would  increase  it  i 

Commissioner  Brown  low.  That  would  include  that. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Let  me  ask  you  about  the  automobile  tax.  It 
has  been  suggested  to  me  that  when  a  man  who  changes  his  automo- 
bile on  Avhich  he  has  paid  a  license  tax  he  has  to  get  another  license. 
How  is  that? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  $2. 

Senator  Gallixger.  His  old  automobile  goes  out  of  existence,  so 
far  as  he  is  concerned,  and  he  gets  a  new  one.  and  he  can  not  put  his 
tag  on  that  to  use  on  the  new  automobile  for  the  remainder  of  the 
year.     Is  that  true  ? 

Commissioner  Browxloav.  They  are  not  supposed  to  transfer  an 
old  tag  from  an  old  car  to  a  new  car. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Why  not  I 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  That  would  leave  one  car  without  a 
tag.  for  one  thing. 

Senator  Curtis.  How  is  that  ?  Nobody  could  use  that  car  without 
a  tag. 

Commissioner  Browxloav.  But  the  identification  number  is  tag 
No.  32400.  we  Avill  say.  for  a  Ford  automobile,  a  certain  engine  num- 
ber, a  certain  car  number,  to  a  certain  person  who  owns  it.  It  is 
desirable  to  keep  that  identification.  When  he  changes  it  from  a 
Ford  car  to  a  Packard.  Avith  a  different  engine  number,  a  different 
car  number,  the  identification  system  is  interrupted. 

Another  reason  avIia'  I  think  it  Avould  be  an  excellent  idea  to 
abolish  the  personal  tax  on  the  automobile  and  substitute  the  annual 
license  tax  is  that  the  time  of  the  board  of  assessors  on  appeals  is 
taken  up  months  in  the  year  sitting  around  the  table  and  considering 
the  case,  saA%  of  a  man  Avhose  Ford  has  been  taxed  $500.  and  who 
thinks  it  is  only  Avorth  $300  this  year  because  it  is  2  years  old. 
It  takes  up  an  enormous  amount  of  time  OA^er  A'ery  small  cases  and 
greatly  clogs  the  Avork  of  the  assessor's  office.  We  think  the  tax 
matter,  the  identification  matter,  and  the  license  matter  avouUI  be 
better  taken  care  of  if  Ave  had  an  annual  license  fee  and  abolished 
the  personal  tax. 

Senator  S^iith.  What  Avould  you  propose  to  do  Avith  this"  tax  of 
$2  a  year?    What  fund  Avould  that  go  into? 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  It  goes  into  the  general  revenues  of  the 
District. 

Commissioner  Neav:max.  It  has  to  go  into  the  revenues,  half  the 
District  and  half  the  United  States,  under  the  half-and-half  arrange- 
ment, like  all  other  fees  collected. 

Senator  Saiith.  It  does  not  go  into  any  fund  to  keep  uj^  the  roads? 

Commissioner  Neavmax.  No,  sir. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  47 

SURVEYS  OF  OLD  SUBDIVISIONS. 

Col.  KuTz.  This  was  an  item  that  was  inserted  a  mimlier  of  years 
ago.  and  we  have  not  entirely  completed  the  work,  though  it  is 
Hearing  completion.  We  would  like  very  much  to  have  the  item  con- 
tinued at  least  this  year,  and  possibly  will  ask  for  it  again  next  year. 
I  think  it  is  very  important  work — w(  rk  that  we  take  up  from  time 
to  time  in  connection  with  our  regular  work, 

Senator  Gallincer.  What  do  you  mean  by  "old  subdivisions"  in 
the  District  of  Columbia  i 

Col.  KuTz.  Subdivisions  that  were  created  before  the  present  high- 
Avay  plan  was  established,  early  in  the  nineties. 

Senator  Gallinger.  And  they  cc'uflict  with  the  high.way  plan.  Is 
that  the  idea  ( 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes:  in  many  cases  they  do.  and  we  have  no  accurate 
records  of  those  subdivisions.  They  Avere  made  by  private  surveyors 
before  there  was  a  District  surveyor. 

FISH   AVHARF   AND   MARKET. 

Commissioner  Brownloav.  On  page  21.  beginning  Avith  line  7.  there 
is  an  item  for  completing  the  construction  of  market  buildings  on 
the  site  of  the  present  municipal  fish  Avharf  and  market.  That  AA^e 
Avould  like  passed  oA'er  for  the  present.  We  are  making  an  inves- 
tigation that  may  require  a  suggestion  of  an  important  change  in 
that,  but  AA'e  have  not  quite  finished  it.  and  in  a  day  or  tAvo  will  be 
aljle  to  report  on  that. 

REPAIRS  TO  MARKETS. 

Commissioner  Beoavxloav.  There  are  several  items  submitted  in 
connection  with  the  markets,  the  first  one  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
refrigerating  plant.  I  Avill  take  them  up  and  go  OAer  these  in  con- 
nection Avith  the  itetms  I  have  just  spoken  of. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Let  me  ask  about  market  buildings.  AVe 
made  an  appropriation  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  fish  AAdiarf.  Has 
that  been  done? 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  Yes,  sir.  The  Avharves  have  been  re- 
built. In  the  matter  of  repairs  to  markets  and  various  other  things 
that  were  omitted,  they  are  extensively  discussed  in  the  House  hear- 
ings. There  is  the  matter  of  repainting  the  interior  of  the  Western 
Market,  a  neAv  public  toilet  in  the  Eastern  ^Market,  and  re])airs  to 
retaining  Avails  and  copings  and  courtyard  pavement  of  the  Western 
Market.  We  ask  for  $8,000.  The  House  increased  the  appropria- 
tion for  maintenance  $500.  Those  markets  are  in  very  bad  condition, 
especially  the  Western  IVIarket.  This  estimate  was  made  by  the 
municipal  architect.  The  Avails  of  the  Western  Market  and  the  cop- 
ings on  K  Street  and  the  courtyard  entrance  are  in  very  bad  condi- 
tion. The  interior  of  the  market  is  in  great  need  of  painting.  It 
has  a  A'ery  high  ceiling  and  would  be  an  expensive  job  to  paint  on 
account  of  the  scaffolding  that  Avould  be  necessary.  Then  Ave  ask  for 
the  erection  of  an  additional  steel  shelter  that  Avould  cost  $15,000, 
That  is  at  the  farmers'  produce  market  near  the  National  INIuseum. 
Those  shelters  have  been  put  up  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  portable.    If 


48  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

you  go  down  there  in  the  daytime,  apparently  there  is  more  shed 
room  than  is  needed.  But  if  you  go  down  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, as  I  have  done  on  several  occasions,  you  will  find  there  is  not 
enough  shelter. 

Sens- to]'  S:mith.  Are  the-e  shelters  put  there  for  parties  coining 
into  the  city  with  their  wagons? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  The  farmers  who  come  in  with  their 
wagons  can  back  up  to  that  shelter. 

Senator  Gallingee.  There  are  two  now  ? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  Thert  are  two  now.  This  is  to  put  an 
additional  one. 

Senator  Smith.  And  you  say  there  is  not  a  sufficient  number  now  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow^  Not  sufficient  to  take  care  of  the 
wagons.  Objection  Avas  made  on  the  House  side  to  placing  another 
one  there  because  of  the  proximity  of  the  National  Museum. 

Senator  Smith.  As  I  understand  it,  these  can  be  removed  when- 
ever the  occasion  requires  that  place  to  be  used  for  other  purposes? 

Commissioner  Beownlow.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith.  That  argument  was  made  at  the  time  the)' were  put 
there,  and  they  were  put  there  so  that  they  could  be  removed  in  case 
this  property  was  available  for  some  other  purposes,  and  they 
wanted  to  use  it  for  some  other  purposes. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  Yes,  sir.  Xow,  we  ask  for  additional 
equipment  in  the  matter  of  trucks  for  the  market  department.  That 
is  very  fully  covered  in  the  House  hearings.  We  also  ask  for  an 
allowance  of  $25  a  month  to  the  superintendent  of  weights,  measures, 
and  markets  for  the  maintenance  of  an  automobile,  so  that  he  can  get 
about  to  the  various  markets.  One  of  those  truck  items,  we  think,  is 
very  much  needed,  and  that  is  in  connection  with  the  additional  force 
of  inspectors  asked  for.  That  is  for  the  three  small  auto  trucks 
equipped  with  test  weights  and  balances  for  testing  scales,  the  cost 
of  each  not  to  exceed  $600. 

Senator  Lea.  Would  it  be  better  to  have  all  of  these  automobile 
trucks  provided  for  under  the  appropriation  for  automobile  trucks? 

Commissioner  Neavman.  We  group  all  of  the  passenger  vehicles 
together. 

Senator  Lea.  Have  you  not  some  trucks  under  these  other  appro- 
priations ? 

Commissioner  Beownlow.  Some  under  the  engineer  department. 
But  these  are  to  be  specially  equipped.  It  has  been  the  practice  in 
the  case  of  patrol  w-agons  and  other  cars  that  would  be  especially 
equipped  not  to  carry  them  under  the  contingent  expense  item,  but 
to  carry  them  in  their  proper  places  in  the  bill.  I  mean  in  connec- 
tion with  the  department  that  was  to  use  them. 

Senator  Gallingee.  What  about  the  25-ton  railroad  scale  that  you 
ask  for?    Is  that  a  scale  that  is  larger  than  the  one  they  have? 

Commissioner  Beoavnlow.  That  is  one  to  make  very  large  tests 
for  large  coal  scales. 

Senator  Gallingee.  What  would  they  have  there  that  w^ould 
weigh  25  tons  ?    They  do  not  sell  coal  from  that  market,  do  they  ? 

Commissioner  Beownlow.  This  is  not  only  for  the  market.  This 
is  for  testing  scales  for  the  public.  The  superintendent  of  weights, 
measures,   and   markets  tests  all  private  scales  in   the  District  of 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  49 

Columbia.  He  wants  one  large  enough  to  test  the  hirgest  trucks  used 
in  the  wholesale  vending  of  coal. 

Col.  KuTz.  The  items  in  regard  to  the  repair  shop  are  put  in  for 
the  purpose  of  increasing  the  facilities  of  the  repair  shop.  The  Dis- 
trict repair  shop  is  doing  a  lot  of  work,  more  work  every  year,  and 
the  facilities  are  totally  inadequate.  It  was  not  built  as  a  repair  shop, 
but  was  built  for  use  as  a  pumping  station  and  was  turned  over  to 
the  repair  shop  when  the  new  pumping  station  was  built,  about  10 
years  ago,  and  part  of  the  building  is  an  old  boiler  room  which  has 
twice  the  head  room  in  it  that  is  required  for  repair-shop  purposes. 
We  want  an  additional  floor  placed  over  that  area,  dividing  the 
space  horizontally.  We  want  a  shed  in  the  yard  for  the  protection 
of  bulky  material,  and  then  some  machines — a  24:-inch  lathe,  a  mill- 
ing machine,  and  a  drill  press. 

We  have  now  an  appropriation  of  over  $100,000  for  repair  of 
school  buildings  alone.  We  are  asking  this  year  for  a  considerable 
increase  in  that  appropriation.  Repairs  are  constantly  required, 
and  we  have  to  maintain  a  repair-shop  force,  and  w^e  would  like 
to  increase  the  work  now  done  by  that  force,  but  we  are  handicapped 
now  by  lack  of  facilities  and  lack  of  tools.  We  make  it  a  practice 
to  do  everything  b}^  contract  in  that  connection  that  we  can. 

Senator  Gallixgeij.  AVhich  item,  Colonel,  covers  the  increase  of 
the  floorage  space? 

Col.  KuTz.  It  is  in  the  $1,800  item. 

Senator  Gallinger   (reading)  : 

For  changes  to  provide  for  more  orderly  and  systematic  -arrangement  and 
distribution  of  materials  and  labor. 

That  would  not  seem  to  cover  the  change  you  suggest. 

Col.  KuTz.  That  is  only  one  of  a  number  of  changes  that  we  want 
to  make  to  increase  the  facilities.  It  will  give  the  direct  connection 
between  the  shop  we  now  have  in  front  of  the  boiler  room  and  some 
shops  we  have  in  the  rear.  It  would  make  a  direct  connection  be- 
tween the  two. 

Senator  Gallinger.  The  House  did  not  seem  to  pay  any  atten- 
tion to  those  various  and  sundry  recommendations. 

Col.  KuTz.  I  would  like  to  say  with  regard  to  the  last  item,  "  For 
shed  for  vehicles  now  stored  in  repair  shop,''  where  we  ask  $3,000, 
if  the  committee  looks  favorably  on  a  central  garage,  I  do  not  think 
that  item  would  be  necessary.  But  we  are  very  much  crowded  now. 
We  have  to  store  vehicles  in  the  repair  shop  itself. 

ASSESSMENT    AND    PERMIT    WORK. 

On  page  21,  line  17,  in  connection  with  the  assessment  and  permit 
work,  we  ask  for  the  authority  to  purchase  and  maintain  a  motor 
truck.  We  thought  it  was  proper  to  include  that  item  there  rather 
than  in  the  contingent  fund,  because  half  of  the  cost  is  assessable 
against  the  abutting  propert3\  and  the  purchase  and  maintenance 
of  such  a  truck  ought  to  be  part  of  the  assessable  cost.  It  will 
enable  us  to  replace  a  horse-drawn  vehicle.  We  do  all  our  alley 
paving  b}^  hired  labor,  and  furnish  the  hauling  in  connection  with 
it,  and  we  can  effect  an  economy  by  the  substitution  of  a  motor 

45737—16 4 


50  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  IDIT. 

vehicle  for  a  horse-draAA-n  vehicle.  This  I  think  is  true  of  all  the 
substitutions  of  that  kind  Ave  have  made  in  the  last  three  or  four 
years. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  does  not  increase  the  appropriation. 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo,  sir.     The  House  authorized  the  increase. 

Senator  S:mith.  They  have  authorized  an  increase  of  $20,000. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith,  And  that  Avould  alloA^■  you  to  purchase  this  motor 
truck? 

Col.  KuTz.  It  AA-ill  not  A\'ithout  specific  authority. 

Senator  Smith.  I  say.  there  is  money  to  do  it  Avith.  but  you  have 
ro  have  specific  authority  to  do  it? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  You  are  asking  for  the  authority,  and  not  for  any 
increase  of  money? 

Col,  KuTz.  Yes,  sir. 

AVORK    ox    STREETS    AXD    AA'EXUES. 

Senator  Gallixger,  Are  these  street  schedules  satisfactory  to  the 
commissioners  as  the  House  provided? 

Col.  KuTz.  The  House  cut  off  about  $20,000  of  the  amount  esti- 
mated. While  Ave  think  that  every  item  submitted  by  the  commis- 
sioners AA-as  an  important  item  of  AA'ork.  Avork  that  ought  to  be  done, 
Ave  feel  that  in  comparison  Avith  the  appropriation  last  year  it  is 
very  liberal. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yery  liberal  advances  Avere  made  over  last 
year. 

Senator  Curtis,  What  is  that  last  item,  that  proviso — 

That  streets  and  avenues  named  in  said  schedules  already  paved  Avith  Bel- 
j^iau  hlock  or  granite  shall  not  be  paved  or  otherwise  improved  under  this  appro- 
priation, and  the  remaining  streets  and  avenues,  except  as  herein  specitied, 
shall  be  contracted  for  in  the  order  in  A\hich  they  appear  in  said  schedules. 

Is  not  that  something  neAv  ? 

Mr,  Neavmax.  The  proviso  on  line  i? 

Senator  Curtis.  Yes. 

Mr.  Neavmax.  Xo,  sir. 

Col.  KuTz.  That  has  been  in  the  laAV  for  some  time.  We  Avanted 
to  strike  it  out. 

^Ir.  Broavxloav.  We  asked  that  that  be  left  out. 

Col.  KuTZ.  AVe  feel  that  is  an  unnecessary  restriction  on  the  judg- 
ment of  the  commissioners  in  connection  Avith  repaving  the  streets. 

We  have  a  fund  of  $315,000  for  repairs  and  resurfacing,  and  Ave 
feel  that  Ave  ought  to  be  able  to  resurface  a  street  that  is  paved  Avith 
Belgian  block,  if  it  is  necessary,  Avithout  specific  authority '^in  each 
case.  That  is,  Ave  do  resurfacing  Avork  to  the  extent  of  $120,000  or 
$180,000  a  year,  yet  Ave  are  absolutely  restricted,  so  far  as  thc-c 
streets  are  concerned. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Another  reason  Avhy  we  think  that  re- 
striction is  not  necessary  is  that  the  number  of  streets  paved  Avith 
Belgian  block  is  getting' feAver  and  feAver.  There  are  not  very  many 
of  them  left  relatiAely. 

Senator  Smith.  They  are  not  as  popular  as  they  Avere? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  51 

Commissioner  XE^^^ArA^'.  Xo:  ami  we  do  not  have  the  traffic  here 
that  require^  a  pavement  of  that  character.     Industrial  cities  do. 

Col.  KuTz.  The  connnissioners  also  inserted  in  their  estimates  an 
item  which  appears  at  the  top  of  page  22,  calling  for  an  appropria- 
tion of  ^^.'i.OOO  to  permit  the  commissioners  to  pave  streets  on  the 
same  conditions  that  we  lay  sidewalks.  That  is.  where  a  particular 
street  is  completely  built  up  during  the  year,  we  feel  that  there  ought 
to  be  some  fund  out  of  which  a  pavement  could  be  provided  without 
Avaiting  the  year  or  two  years  for  the  special  appropriation  that 
would  under  the  existing  law  be  necessary  for  that  street.  We  only 
asked  for  a  small  sum  as  an  experiment.  The  amount  of  work  done 
would  be  double  the  estimate,  as  half  of  the  estimated  cost  would  be 
paid  in  advance  by  the  property  owners.  There  are  cases  now  where 
a  block  is  completely  built  up  on  both  sides  and  no  provision  for  pave- 
ment. AVe  go  in  and  make  temporary  repairs,  using  old  material, 
but  we  have  to  use  our  repair  fund  for  it,  and  it  is  really  not  a  proper 
use  of  our  repair  fund,  but  with  people  living  on  the  street,  we  feel 
they  are  entitled  to  access  to  their  homes  and  that  we  must  do  some- 
thing for  them.  If  we  have  some  fund  of  this  kind,  such  streets  can, 
in  the  discretion  of  the  commissioners,  be  paved  without  waiting  for  a 
special  appropriation. 

Senator  Curtis,  You  only  ask  $25,000  for  that  purpose? 
Col.  KuTz.  Yes..  We  want  to  start  in  modestly  and  try  out  the 
system.  This  only  provides  for  cases  in  which  property  owners  are 
willing  to  put  up  half  the  cost  in  advance,  and  where  you  find  such 
a  conclition  it  seems  to  me  the  District  ought  to  be  ready  to  respond. 
Senator  Smith.  In  cases  where  the  property  holders  are  willing  to 
put  up  the  amount  required  of  them  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  Yes,  sir.  We  do  not  want  to  go  out  into  the  suburbs 
and  pave  where  it  is  merely  part  of  a  real  estate  speculation.  We 
only  want  to  do  it  in  cases  where  houses  are  actually  built  and  people 
living  on  the  street,  and  where  the  people  are  willing  to  put  up  their 
share  in  advance  of  doing  the  work. 

Senator  Smith.  How  have  vou  been  managing  that  now  in  the 
past? 

Col.  Kutz.  We  can  not  do  anything.  We  have  to  wait  and  get  a 
specific  appropriation. 

Senator  Gallixger.  You  have  got  to  have  the  street  to  be  improved 
named  in  the  bill  ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  An  illustration  of  the  need  of  that  is  that 
new  street  that  runs  straight  west  from  the  Kenesaw  Apartment 
House,  Hobart  Street,  all  solidly  built  up.  Those  people  have  been 
living  there  for  two  years  now  without  any  improvement  to  their 
roadway  at  all  except  little  old  lumps  of  asphalt  and  brick  and  stuff, 
which  have  been  put  there  and  rolled  down. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  suppose  we  could  meet  that  case  by  adding 
the  street  to  the  schedule. 

Conunissioner  Xewmax.  It  is  in  the  schedule.  But  in  the  mean- 
time they  have  lived  there  two  years  with  mud  in  their  street.  In  a 
case  of  that  kind,  where  the  property  owners  were  willing  to  advance 
their  half  of  the  money,  this  would  take  care  of  it. 

Senator  Smith.  Is  it  not  more  economical  to  do  it,  possibly,  when 
needed,  just  at  the  time,  than  it  is  to  wait,  and  it  will  cost  a  sreat 
deal  more  money  later  on?     Would  you  not  save  money? 


52  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  We  would  save  Avhat  we  spend  in  tem- 
porary improvements.  Of  course,  the  small  amount  of  money  that 
is  spent  for  putting  this  old  material  in  there  is  thrown  away. 

Col.  KuTz.  We  have  no  desire  to  do  it  except  Avhere  the  place  is 
built  up.  because  if  it  is  only  partially  built  up  numerous  cuts  will 
have  to  be  made  for  water  connections  and  sewer  connections,  and  in 
that  case  we  would  not  want  to  put  in  a  fixed  pavement. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  There  is  no  probability  that  where  it 
is  not  built  up  the  people  would  want  to  put  up  the  money. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Would  it  not  be  well  to  provide  that  it  should 
only  be  used  in  cases  where  the  street  is  improved  to  that  extent? 
Otherwise  there  is  apt  to  be  a  claim  of  favoritism  that  you  are 
putting  it  on  one  street  and  not  on  another. 

Senator  Smith.  I  think  that  would  be  a  protection  to  the  com- 
missioners. 

Commissioner  Xeavman.  Yes.  That  would  put  in  law  our  theory 
exactly. 

Col.  KuTz.  In  lieu  of  the  provision  contained  in  the  estimates  of 
the  commissioners,  it  is  suggested  that  the  following  legislation  be 
enacted : 

Hereafter  the  commissioners  are  autliorized,  wlienever  they  receive  a  written 
application  from  the  owners  of  three-fourths  of  the  frontage  of  a  block,  which 
frontage  is  three-fourths  improved,  to  pave  the  roadway  of  any  street,  avenue,  or 
road  in  the  District  of  Columbia  running  through  such  block,  with  a  fixed  pave- 
ment :  Provided,  That  the  applicants  for  such  paving  deposit  one  half  of  the  esti- 
mated cost  of  the  work ;  and  the  sum  of  $25,000,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be 
necessary,  is  hereby  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  bearing  the  cost  of  the  other 
half  of  such  paving,  said  work  to  be  done  under  the  provisions  of  law  govern- 
ing the  laying  of  sidewalks  under  the  permit  system,  approved  August  7,  1894. 

WORK    ON    CERTAIN    SPECIFIED    STREETS. 

Col.  KuTz.  On  the  top  of  page  23  there  are  three  items  omitted. 
The  third  item  was  a  duplication,  and  was  very  properly  omitted. 
The  second  item  represents  half  of  the  paving  in  front  of  the 
market,  and  while  the  commissioners  thought  it  was  advisable  to 
pave  the  entire  market  space  at  this  time,  I  think  no  great  harm  will 
be  done  by  omitting  half  of  it  this  A^ear,  letting  half  of  it  go  to  the 
next  year".  But  the  first  item,  Seventh  Street,  w^e  feel  is  entitled 
to  further  consideration.  We  have  an  old  granite-block  pavement 
there,  resting  on  a  sand  and  gravel  base,  very  rough  and  uneven, 
and  very  difficult  to  keep  clean  and  sanitary.-  The  lower  part  of 
Seventh'  Street,  below  R,  w^as  repaved  this  last  year  with  asphalt. 
We  would  like  to  continue  that  improvement  as  far  north  as  Florida 
Avenue. 

Commissioner  Xewman.  It  might  be  interesting  to  the  members  of 
this  committee  to  know  that  that  Seventh  Street  item,  wdiich  I  think 
was  inserted  in  the  bill  by  this  committee  last  year — I  mean  he 
portion  of  it  that  was  done 

Senator  Gallinger.  Two  or  three  times  before  we  got  it. 

Commissioner  Xewman,  It  finally  went  through  last  year.  That 
street  was  paved  in  accordance  with  that  estiuiate.  and  the  business 
men's  association  along  Seventh  Street  decided  to  have  a  celebration 
of  this  paving,  about'  a  half  a  mile  of  paving.  They  had  a  civic 
celebration  out  there  one  night  last  summer  and  50.000  people  turned 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1017.  53 

out.  I  do  not  suppose  a  half  a  mile  of  paving  ever  aroused  such  in- 
terest or  Avas  received  with  more  appreciation  and  pleasure  than  that 
Avas.  This  item  that  was  omitted  by  the  House  was  to  finish  that 
job  up. 

BARRY  FARM  SUBDIVISION. 

Senator  Gallinoer.  What  al)out  this  Barry  L  arm  proposition? 
Where  is  that  subdivision  ( 

Col.  Kl'tz.  Barry  Farm  is  a  subdivision  on  the  other  side  of  Ana- 
costia  Eiver.  occupied  largely  by  colored  people  occupying  very  small 
homes  which  they  own.  The  subdivision  is  intersected  by  a  series  of 
streets  that  are  not  puldic  streets;  that  is.  the  property  ownership 
extends  to  the  middle  of  the  street.  AVhen  the  highway  plan  was 
made,  some  20  years  ago.  Barry  Farm  was  omitted  because  they 
could  not  extend  a  series  of  90-foot  streets  over  that  subdivision 
without  virtually  destroying  all  the  homes  in  it.  We  would  like 
authority  to  make  a  highway  plan  which  will  conform  to  existing 
conditions,  making  the  streets  not  less  than  40  feet  wide.  We  do  not 
feel  that  we  can  spend  any  of  our  street-repair  money  on  the  existing 
system  of  roads,  because  they  are  not  in  public  ownership. 

Senator  Curtis.  Have  they  not  been  dedicated? 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo.  sir. 

Senator  Curtis.  Are  they  not  used  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  They  are  used — just  a  series  of  irregular  roads ;  and  it 
is  almost  impossible  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  for  fire  apparatus 
to  go  there. 

Senator  Curtis.  Do  not  your  courts  here  hold  that  if  the  people  in 
a  little  communit}'  lay  out  an  addition,  or.  whether  they  lay  it  out  or 
not.  if  they  use  a  highway  for  wagon  purposes,  it  becomes  a  public 
highway  ? 

Col.  Kutz.  Yes.  We  so  treated  one  short  stretch  on  Howard 
Street,  the  commissioners  declaring  it  a  public  street  by  reason  of 
long  use  as  such :  but  we  feel  that  our  authority  in  the  matter  is  very 
uncertain:  that  is.  as  to  the  width  which  can  properly  be  said  to  be 
used  for  street  purposes.  We  want  to  lay  sidewalks  and  gutters  as 
well  as  the  street,  and  sometimes  the  property  will  encroach  well 
toward  the  middle  of  the  street  and  other  places  set  back,  so  that 
uniformity  is  out  of  the  question. 

Senator  Cirtis.  What  is  your  idea — to  condemn  and  pay  for  part? 

Col.  Kutz.  Yes.  If  we  can  lay  out  a  new  system  of  highways  with 
a  Avidth  of  not  less  than  10  feet,  we  can  condemn  under  the  higliAvay 
law. 

Senator  Curtis,  Would  you  have  to  pay  for  these  streets  now 
being  used  for  highways? 

Col.  Kutz.  Yes.  We  pay  for  them  and  assess  the  entire  cost  back 
as  benefits,  so  that  there  would  be  no  expense  to  the  District. 

Senator  Cl^rtis.  The  courts  in  our  State  hold — we  had  a  good  deal 
of  trouble,  just  as  you  have  had — that  Avhere  they  do  lay  them  out 
to  be  used  by  the  public  for  A-ehicles  they  become  puljlic  highways. 

Col.  Kutz.  There  is  just  one  obstacle.  AVe  can  not  la}'  out  any 
system  of  highways  less  than  90  feet  in  Avidth, 

Senator  Gallixger,  Under  existing  laAv. 

Col.  Kutz.  Under  existing  law.  So  this  is  merely  to  give  us  au- 
thority in  this  particular  subdivision  to  lay  out  higliAvays  of  less 


54  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

width,  and  if  we  have  that  authority  we  can  go  ahead  without  any 
appropriation. 

Senator  Gallixoer.  Could  you  do  that  in  that  subdivision  without 
pulling  down  a  lot  of  those  small  houses  { 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.  sir.  We  will  destroy  very  few  if  we  can  provide 
these  narrow  streets. 

Senator  Gallixger.  If  you  pull  down  a  man's  house,  what  do  you 
do  about  benefits  then  i 

Col.  KuTz.  The  benefits  are  spread. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  assess  it  on  his  neighbors? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.     He  may  be  permitted  to  move  the  house  back. 

Senator  Smith.  You  have  the  amount  of  benefits  to  pay  the  ex- 
pense. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  It  has  to  under  our  law. 

Col.  KuTz.  It  is  a  very  unattractive  subdivision  now,  and  I  think 
something  ought  to  be  done  to  improve  conditions,  and  this  appealed 
to  the  commissioners  as  the  most  promising  method.  We  would  do 
the  least  damage  to  existing  property  and  interests,  and  yet  it  would 
enable  us  to  give  these  people  sidewalks  and  sewers  and  maintain 
their  streets  and  give  them  some  real  civic  conveniences,  which  we 
do  not  think  we  can  do  now.  The  people  who  live  there  are  very 
much  in  favor  of  legislation  that  will  permit  the  commissioners  to 
do  something.  They  have  petitioned  us  time  and  again  for  improve- 
ments, which  we  did  not  see  our  way  clear  to  make  under  the  law. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Xow.  Mr.  Chairman,  if  you  will  permit  me 
to  make  a  suggestion  that  we  have  always  made  to  the  commission- 
ers in  reference  to  these  streets  to  be  improved,  the  House  put  in  a 
certain  schedule  of  streets,  but  omitted  what  will  be  found  on  the  note 
on  page  "24.  and  we  have  ordinarily  asked  the  commissioners  to  des- 
ignatae  which  of  those  omitted  streets  are  most  important.  I  hope 
the  commissioners  will  make  a  suggestion  along  that  line. 

Senator  Smith.  I  wonder  if  it  would  not  be  well  to  postpone  that 
until  the  next  meeting? 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  am  willing  to  adjourn. 

gradixg  streets,  alleys,  axd  roads. 

Col.  KuTz.  Before  we  come  to  the  suburban-road  item.  I  would  like 
to  call  your  attention  to  the  item  at  the  bottom  of  page  23  and  the  top 
of  paae  24.  The  existino-  appropriation  for  grading  streets,  alleys, 
and  roads  is  $15,000.  We  asked  for  $25,000.  and  the  House  authorized 
$20,000.  I  feel  that  the  estimate  of  the  commissioners  was  fully 
justified:  $15,000  spread  over  the  entire  District  of  Columbia  is  a 
very  small  item,  and  particularly  in  the  grading  of  alleys.  It  is 
verV  im]M)rtant.  when  builders  develoi?  an  entire  block  that  we  grade 
the' alley  at  that  time,  so  that  they  will  Ijuild  to  the  established  grade. 
As  it  is  now.  we  frequently  find  the  builders  building  houses  accord- 
ing to  tlie  existing  grade  of  the  ground.  Avithout  regard  to  the  estab- 
lislied  grade  of  the  alley.  They  lay  out  the  backyards,  and  the  con- 
crete leads  leading  from  the  house"  to  the  alley,  and  do  not  pay  any 
attention  to  the  apjn-oved  grade  of  the  alley,  and  sell  the  houses. 
Then,  Avhen  the  District  comes  in  a  few  years  later  to  pave  the  alley, 
we  find  all  these  back-yard  improvements  laid  out  without  respect  to 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  lUH.  55 

the  improved  alley,  and.  of  course,  there  is  a  ^areat  deal  of  opposition 
to  changino-  the  grade  at  that  time.  In  grading  Ave  would  like  to  keep 
])ace  with  the  building  de^"elopment.  The  paving  can  come  later. 
This  is  the  only  fund  out  of  which  we  can  do  such  grading.  It  is 
also  fi-equently  necessary  to  grade  streets  to  give  access  to  houses  that 
are  built  when  there  is  no  m(mev  to  pay  for  paving.  While  we  appre- 
ciate the  additional  $5,000.  we  would  like  to  have  $l>o.OOO. 

In  connection  with  the  schedule  for  suburban  roads  the  commis- 
sioners would  like  to  insert  an  item  which  was  not  included  in  their 
estimates.  Last  year  there  was  an  item  in  the  bill  for  the  improve- 
ment of  Xaylor  JRoad.  in  the  southeast.  When  we  came  to  make  a 
more  detailed  study  of  conditions,  we  found  it  advisable  to  change 
the  location  of  the  road  and  to  amend  the  highway  plan  in  order  to 
better  fit  the  local  conditions:  and  the  revised  plan,  which  has  been 
approved  by  the  Federal  Highway  Commission,  makes  the  improve- 
ment somewhat  more  costly.  Instead  of  $8,000  to  grade,  improve,  and 
macadamize  this  street,  the  estimate  now  is  for  $18,500,  and  we  would 
like  to  ask  the  insertion  of  an  item  as  folloAvs.  Insert,  on  page  24, 
between  lines  10  and  11.  the  following: 

Southeast  Naylor  Itoud,  east  of  Good  Hope  Road  to  District  line,  grade  and 
improve,  $5,500. 

We  can  not  make  a  satisfactory  improvement  for  the  amount  here- 
tofore appropriated.  Then,  we  would  like,  in  that  connection,  to  con- 
tinue the  appropriation  of  $8,000,  which  has  not  yet  been  spent,  to 
the  next  year.  We  considered  the  advisability  of  treating  this  as  a 
deficiency  item,  but  the  probabilities  are  that  the  deficiency  bill  will 
not  come  up  until  after  the  fiscal  year  has  expired,  and  Ave  wanted  to 
save  the  $8,000.  and  that  would  lapse  on  the  30th  of  June. 

Senator  Gallinger.  If  this  bill  does  not  become  a  law  until  the 
end  of  the  year,  you  will  not  save  it.  will  you  i 

Commissioner  Xew.aia^.  Xo:  Init  Ave  might  make  a  contract  to 
spend  it  on  the  30th  of  June. 

RHODE  ISLAND  AVENUE  IMPROVEMENT. 

Col.  KuTz.  There  is  a  proviso  we  Avould  like  to  have  inserted  in 
connection  Avith  the  first  item — the  improvement  of  Rhode  Island 
Avenue  from  South  Dakota  Avenue  to  the  District  line— page  2-1, 
line  11.  When  Rhode  Island  Avenue  Avas  opened  the  law  provided 
that  the  street  railway  comi)any  slioidd  deed  to  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia all  the  land  that  it  re(]uired  Avithin  the  limits  of  Rhode 
Island  Avenue.  The  intent  of  the  laAV,  as  the  commissioners  undei-- 
stood  it.  required  the  company  to  acquire  all  the  proj)erty  within 
the  boundary  lines  of  Rhode  Island  Avenue  and  deed  it  to  the  Dis- 
trict. But  that  interpretation  Avas  not  upheld  by  the  courts.  So 
that  Rhode  Island  Avenue  is  not  of  full  Avidth  throughout  its  entire 
length,  and  this  proviso  is  to  authorize  the  commissioners  to  insti- 
tute condemnation  pi-oceedings  for  the  Avidening  of  Rhode  Island 
Avenue  and  include  among  the  i)arties  to  be  assessed  for  benefits 
the  street  railway  company.  lea\ing  to  the  judgment  of  the  jury  the 
amount  that  should  be  paid  bv  abutting  owners  and  the  amount  to  be 
paid  by  the  street  raihvay  company.     We  feel  that  this  is  equitable 


56  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

and  in  strir-t  accordance  with  the  intent  of  Congres-s.     The  proviso 
reads : 

Provided,  That  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columhia  are  hereby 
authorized  and  directed  to  institute  in  the  Supi-eme  Court  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  under  and  in  acc(^rdance  with  tlie  provisions  of  subchapter  one  of 
chapter  fifteen  of  the  Code  of  Law  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  a  proceeiling 
in  re  to  condenui  the  land  that  may  be  necessary  for  the  widening  and  opening 
of  Rhode  Island  Avenue  to  its  full  width  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet,  as 
laid  down  on  the  plan  for  the  permanent  system  of  highways  for  the  District 
of  Columbia,  from  South  Dakota  Avenue  northeasterly  to  the  District  line,  and 
the  costs  and  expenses  of  said  proceedings,  including  an  amount  sufficient  to 
pay  for  the  land  taken,  is  liereby  appropriated  entirely  from  the  revenues  of 
rlie  District  of  Columbia  :  Provided,  limvever.  That  the  entire  amount  found 
to  be  due  and  awarded  by  the  jury  in  said  proceedings  as  damages  for  the 
land  condenuied  plus  the  costs  and  expenses  of  said  proceedings  shall  be 
assessed  by  the  jury  as  benefits:  And  provided  further,  That  of  the  amount 
so  to  be  assessed  as  benefits  such  amount  shall  be  assessed  against  the  City  and 
Suburban  Railway  of  Washington  as  the  jury  may  find  such  railway  to  be 
benefited  by  said  widening  and  opening;  all  said  assessments  to  be  collected 
as  special  improvement  taxes  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  covered  into 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  to  the  credit  of  the  revenues  of  said  Dis- 
trict. 

We  intended  to  include  this  proviso  in  our  estimates,  but  it  was 
omitted.  However,  we  feel  that  it  is  a  proper  proviso  in  connection 
with  the  proposed  appropriation  of  $17,000. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Where  is  South  Dakota  Avenue ;  in  what  part 
of  the  District  ? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Away  out  northeast,  near  Langdon  and 
AVoodridge. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  The  opening  of  this  avenue  adds  a  very 
important  arterial  connection  with  Maryland. 

Senator  Oavex.  Does  Ehode  Island  Avenue  run  into  South  Da- 
kota Avenue  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  They  cross  each  other. 

Col.  KuTz.  South  Dakota  Avenue  crosses  Rhode  Island  Avenue, 
and  the  proposed  improvement  goes  from  that  intersection  to  the 
District  line.  It  leads  directly  to  the  town  of  Mount  Ranier,  and 
there  will  be  considerable  travel  l^etween  the  two  communities  the 
minute  it  is  opened.  We  feel  it  is  not  only  a  local  improvement,  but 
an  improvement  that  is  beneficial  to  the  ^Maryland  town  as  well  as  the 
District. 

Senator  Curtis.  This  has  been  pending  for  a  long  while,  has  it 
not?  It  seems  to  me  three  years  ago  I  Avent  out  over  that  road  with 
the  city  engineers,  or  some  of  them. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  There  has  l^een  a  desire  for  it. 

Col.  KuTz.  AVe  rate  that  as  among  she  most  important  improve- 
ments. The  items  which  we  considered  most  important  of  all.  No.  1 
and  No.  2,  Avere  omitted  ])y  the  House.  AA^e  recommended  them  on 
tlie  score  of  economy.  They  are  both  paved  Avith  macadam  now. 
heaA'ily  traA'eled  streets,  and  the  cost  of  maintenance  exceeds  the  in- 
terest on  the  cost  of  a  fixed  pavement  plus  the  cost  of  maintenance  of 
a  fixed  pavement. 

(Thereupon,  at  5.15  o'clock  p.  m..  an  adjournment  Avas  taken  until 
to-morrow,  Thursday,  June  1,  at  10.30  o'clock  a.  m.) 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  If-l".  57 

THURSDAY.   JUNE   1.   1916. 

The  siibcoinniittee  met  at  10.30  o'clock  a.  in. 

Present:  Senators  Smith  (chairman).  Owen.  Lea,  Gallinger.  and 
Dillingham. 

Oliver  P.  Xewman.  president  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of 
the  District  of  Columbia :  Louis  Brownlow.  Commissioner  of  the 
District  of  Columbia ;  Lieut.  Col.  Charles  W.  Kutz.  Corps  of  Engi- 
neers. Engineer  Commissioner  of  the  District  of  Columbia :  Daniel 
E.  Garges,  chief  clerk;  and  Daniel  J.  Donovan,  secretary  to  the 
board  of  commissioners,  appeared. 

STATEMENTS  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF 
COLUMBIA— Continued. 

The  Chairman  (Senator  Smith).  We  stopped  on  page  24.  I  be- 
lieve. 

OFFICE   OF   SUPERINTENDENT   OF   AVEIGHTS.    MEASURES.    AND    MARKETS. 

• 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  If  the  committee  please.  I  should  like 
to  revert  to  an  item  on  page  S  that  Ave  inadvertently  overlooked  yes- 
terday. It  is  on  page  8.  line  6.  under  the  office  of  the  superintendent 
of  weights,  measures,  and  markets.  The  current  law  and  the  House 
bill  provide  for  a  clerk  at  $l.-200.  In  our  estimates  we  asked  that 
the  clerk's  designation  be  changed  to  chief  clerk  and  the  appropria- 
tion increased  to  $1,500. 

That  is  one  of  the  cases  of  salary  increase  that  we  feel  is  especially 
Avorthy.  This  is  a  young  woman  who  has  been  in  the  office  since 
1897,  and  for  about  10  years  has  been  the  acting  deputv  superin- 
tendent. When  the  superintendent  is  aAvay  for  any  purpose  she  is 
in  charge  of  the  office.  She  is  an  extremely  competent  Avoman.  We 
belieA'e  that  her  compensation  ought  to  be  increased,  and  that  the 
duties  of  the  office  under  its  present  organization  Avould  entitle  the 
holder  of  that  office  to  more  remuneration. 

Senator  Smith.  I  see  you  noAv  haAc  two.  You  haAe  them  changed 
here,  have  you  not? 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  The  House  gaAe  lis  an  additional  as- 
sistant. We  asked  that  those  assistants  be  changed  to  inspectors. 
They  gaA-e  us  the  additional  assistant.  We  asked  for  three  addi- 
tional inspectors,  but  if  Ave  could  get  that  chief  clerk  we  Avould  be 
satisfied. 

Senator  Smith.  I  notice  that  you  only  asked  for  tAvo  and  that  you 
have  gotten  three  from  the  House. 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  Because  Ave  asked  for  one  inspector  at 
$1,300.  and  they  made  it  three  assistants  at  $1,"200.  You  see  they 
provided  for  the  middle  item  on  the  opposite  page. 

Senator  S:mith.  You  asked  for  a  chief  inspector  at  $1,500.  and 
they  gave  you  three  assistants  at  $1,200? 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  Yes.  sir;  and  Avhile  the  Avork  of  that 
office  requires  these  additional  persons,  it  can  go  along  by  a  gradual 
groAvth  since  they  gave  us  that  additional  one:  but  Ave  do  belieAe 
that  the  title  of  that  clerk  ought  to  be  changed  to  "  chief  clerk."''  and 
the  compensation  increased. 


58  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Gallixger.  As  you  have  only  one  clerk,  is  it  not  anoma- 
lous to  give  that  clerk  the  title  of  chief  "clerk  ? 

Commissioner  Brownloav.  There  is  only  one  clerk  there,  but  she 
has  charge  of  quite  a  staff  of  market  masters  and  inspectors.  The 
clerical  work  is  largely  done  by  the  inspectors,  partly  out  in  the  field 
and  partly  in  the  office. 

Senator  Smith.  Xow.  Ave  go  to  page  29. 

AVIDENIXG  OF  AVOODLET  ROAD. 

Col.  KuTz.  On  page  29  the  commissioners  Avould  like  to  insert  a 
proviso,  after  line  11.  Avhich  I  Avill  leave  Avith  you. 

In  accordance  Avith  existing  laAv  the  commissioners  during  the 
past  year  have  endeavored  to  Aviden  Woodley  Eoad  from  Connecticut 
Avenue  to  Wisconsin  Avenue.  Objection  Avas  made  by  the  trustees 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Cathedral  Foundation  that  the  Aviden- 
ing  of  Woodley  Eoad  to  the  Avidth  laid  doAvn  on  the  highAvay  plan 
Avould  unduly  encroach  on  the  cathedral  grounds.  After  consid- 
erable correspondence  and  negotiation  Avith  them  Ave  have  agreed 
on  a  modification  Avhereby  the  18-foot  strip  of  parking  in  front  of 
the  cathedral  grounds  Avill  remain  in  the  OA\-nersliip  of  the  cathedral 
authorities,  but  there  A\-ill  be  a  building  restriction  established  over 
it.  so  that  Ave  Avill  virtually  carry  out.  under  this  compromise  agree- 
ment, the  highAvay  plan,  the  only  difference  being  that  this  18-foot 
strip  of  parking,  instead  of  being  in  public  oAvnership.  Avill  re- 
main in  the  oAvnership  of  the  cathedral.  That  fact  Avill  be  taken 
into  consideration  by  the  jury  in  determining  the  damages  to  the 
cathedral  property  and  also  in  the  assessment  of  benefits,  so  that  Ave 
are  not  yielding  title  Avithout  an  appropriate  return. 

Senator  Smith.  I  belieA'e  there  is  a  bill  regarding  that  matter  be- 
fore Congress  noAv. 

Col.  KrTz.  Yes.  sii.  T  think  the  chairman  of  the  Ap])ropriations 
Committee  of  the  Senate  has  introduced  such  a  bill,  and  the  Com- 
missioners haAe  prepared  a  paragraph  covering  that  feature.  It  is 
a  very  simple  matter,  but  it  require'^  legislative  authority  befoi-e  Ave 
can  make  such  an  arrangement.  We  feel  that  the  interests  of  the 
city  are  thoroughly  ]irotected.  and  at  the  same  tiijie  Ave  AA'ill  be  able 
to  protect  the  cathedral  grounds  in  the  Avay  they  Avant  them  pro- 
tected. So  far  as  Ave  knoAv  there  is  no  opposition  on  the  part  of 
anyone. 

Senator  Smith,  That  bill  has  been  introduced  here  by  Senator 
Martin.  Is  this  in  any  Avay  in  conflict  Avith  the  bill  that  has  been 
introduced? 

Col.  KuTZ.  It  is  identical  in  form.  He  introduced  it  after  this 
compromise  agreement  had  been  reached. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Under  that  bill  is  not  other  territory  in- 
cluded? 

Senator  Smith.  That  is  a  matter  about  Avhich  there  is  some  dis- 
pute. There  are  others  that  A\'ant  the  same  privileges  alloAAed.  I 
think.  Senator  Brady  has  some  property  there,  and  I  think  noAv 
Senator  XeAvlands  has  come  in  A\ith  another  arrangement.  AA'hich  Ave 
are  thrashing  out. 

Senator  DiLLiNGHA:\r.  Do  you  knoAv  anything  about  that.  ^Ir. 
Commissioner? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1!)17.  59 

Col.  KuTz.  No.  sir:  but  if  it  is  merely  an  extension  of  this  prin- 
ciple to  other  properties  on  Woodlev  Kotul  the  commissioners  would 
not  oifer  the  slightest  objection.  We  have  the  right  now,  in  accept- 
ing dedications  of  90-foot  public  streets,  to  accept  the  dedication  of  a 
60- foot  Avidth  with  a  15-foot  building  restriction  on  each  side;  but 
in  condeumation  proceedings  we  can  not  condemn  merely  the  60-foot 
strip  Avith  a  15-foot  building  restriction.  Under  the  law  we  have  to 
condenm  the  full  90-foot  width.  Xow,  what  they  are  asking,  really, 
is  that  the  condemnation  law  in  this  particular  case  shall  be  made  as 
broad  as  the  dedication  law. 

Senator  Smith,  At  the  same  time,  these  people  can  hold  as  their 
property  the  15  feet? 

Col.  ivuTz.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Have  you  there  the  form  of  the  amendment 
which  you  want? 

Col.  KuTZ.  Yes,  sir.    We  have  handed  it  in. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  think  the  proposed  amendment,  as  you 
have  it  there,  either  ought  to  go  into  the  record  or  be  left  with  us. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.  sir ;  we  have  turned  over  a  copy  of  it. 

(The  proposed  amendment  is  as  follows:) 

That  the  Commissioners  of  tlie  District  of  Columbia  are  hereby  autliorized 
and  directed  to  widen  Woodley  Road,  between  Thirty-fifth  Street  and  AVisconsin 
Avenue  adjacent  to  the  land  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Cathedral  Foundatiou 
(Incorporated),  with  a  width  not  exceeding,'  seventy-two  feet  instead  of  a  width 
of  ninety  feet,  as  laid  down  on  the  highway  plan  of  the  District  of  Columbia : 
Provided,  That  there  shall  be  established  on  the  land  of  said  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Cathedral  Foundation  (Incorporated),  between  said  limits,  a  buildinc;  re- 
striction line  which  shall  be  ninety  feet  from  and  parallel  to  the  north  line  of 
said  Woodley  Road,  as  now  laid  down  on  said  highway  plan,  and  the  jury  in  the 
condemnation  proceedings,  which  are  hereby  authorized  to  be  instituted  under 
subchapter  one  of  chapter  fifteen  of  the  Code  of  Law  for  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, shall  ascertain  the  damages  to  said  Protestant  Episcopal  Cathedral  Founda- 
tion (Incorporated),  by  reason  of  the  establishment  of  said  building-restriction 
line  and  said  damages  together  with  the  damages  for  the  land  taken  for  said 
widening  shall  be  included  in  the  amount  assessed  as  benefits  under  said  con- 
demnation proceedings,  and  the  costs  and  expenses  of  said  proceedings,  together 
with  the  damages  for  the  land  taken  shall  be  paid  from  the  appropriation  herein 
made  for  the  extension  of  streets  and  avenues. 

MUNICIPAL  asphalt  PLANT. 

Col.  KuTz.  Then,  on  page  29,  line  ^S,  under  "  Repairs — Streets, 
avenues,  and  alleys."'  the  commissioners  would  like  to  insert  the  fol- 
lowing to  cover  the  technical  objection  that  has  been  raised  to  the 
present  phraseology.  It  concerns  the  operation  of  the  municipal 
asphalt  plant : 

That  hereafter  the  necessary  expenditures  on  account  of  operating  the  por- 
table asphalt  plant  as  heretofore  authorized  shall  be  chargeable  to  the  appropria- 
tion on  account  of  which  such  work  shall  be  done. 

A  number  of  years  ago  Congress  authorized  the  purchase  and 
operation  of  an  asphalt  plant,  for  making  minor  repairs  only,  at  a 
limit  of  cost  of  $7,500 ;  and  for  a  year  or  two  thereafter  the  appropria- 
tion each  year  contained  words  that  specifically  authorized  the  opera- 
tion of  the  plant.  For  the  last  two  years  no  reference  has  been  made 
in  the  appropriation  for  the  repair  of  streets,  to  the  operation  of  the 
plant,  but  we  have  gone  ahead  and  operated  it  under  the  assumption 
that  we  had  the  necessary  authority.    Our  right  to  operate  the  plant 


60  DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRTATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

was  disputed  recently  by  one  of  the  contractors  who  is  strongly 
opposed  to  the  municipal  operation  of  the  plant.  We  took  the  matter 
up  with  the  auditor  and  with  the  corporation  counsel,  and  while  they 
held  that  we  were  within  our  rights  in  going  ahead,  they  said  we 
ought  to  endeavor  to  secure  this  additional  phraseology  in  the  next 
appropriation  bill.  Under  it.  the  cost  of  operation  would  be  charge- 
able to  the  appropriation  on  account  of  which  the  work  was  done — 
that  is,  whether  it  is  repairs  to  streets  or  the  miscellaneous  appropria- 
tion for  repairs  to  cuts. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  think  Avhen  we  authorized  that  plant  we 
were  all  laboring  under  the  impression  that  the  commissioners  had 
an  absolute  right  to  use  it  without  further  legislation:  but  if  legis- 
lation is  needed  I  think  it  ought  to  go  in. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir.  There  is  some  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the 
accounting  officers.  It  is  a  very  small  plant,  and  it  is  only  used  for 
making  minor  repairs.  We  are  not  endeavoring  to  compete  with  the 
contractors. 

Senator  Gallixger,  Oh,  no.  I  think  it  is  a  very  valuable  thing 
to  use  it. 

authority  to  open,  extend,  or  widex  streets,  alleys,  etc. 

Col.  KuTz.  In  our  estimates  we  included  an  item  of  legislation 
which  is  not  included  by  the  House.  It  is  shown  on  the  right  of  the 
page,  at  the  top  of  page  29:  but  we  feel  that  we  do  not  want  to  ask 
for  the  legislating  at  this  time.  It  was  intended,  when  drawn,  to 
cover  two  particular  cases  where  school  grounds  encroached  slightly 
on  street  areas — one  in  Congress  Heights  and  one  in  the  Woodridge- 
Langdon  section.  We  were  seeking  this  legislation  merely  to  make 
the  streets  straight  by  cutting  off  a  slice  of  the  school  property. 
Since  we  introduced  this  legislation,  however,  the  corporation  coun- 
sel has  ruled  that  the  commissioners  possess  the  necessary  authority 
to  encroach  on  the  reservation  to  the  extent  necessary  to  lay  side- 
walks: so  that,  under  his  interpretation,  we  will  not  need  the  addi- 
tional legislation. 

Senator  Smith.  You  do  not  want  this,  then  ? 

Col.  Kutz,  Xo,  sir. 

BONDS  OF  CONTRACTORS. 

The  proposed  legislation  at  the  bottom  of  page  29  concerns  the 
guarantees  in  connection  with  contract  work.  Under  existing  law. 
the  connnissioners  not  only  i-equire  from  the  contractor  a  bond 
guaranteeing  the  faithful  performance  of  his  contract,  but  they  also 
require  a  cash  retent  of  10  per  cent,  varying  from  one  to  five  years, 
depending  upon  the  character  of  the  Avork. 

Senator  vSmitii.  You  have   gone  back  to  page  29  now? 

Col.  Kutz.  We  are  still  on  page  29:  yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinoer.  This  is  the  note  at  the  bottom. 

Col.  Kutz,  The  commissioners  feel  that  the  double  safeguard  is 
unnecessary,  and  that  it  is  costly.  In  Federal  Government  con- 
tracts they  require  a  guarantee  in  the  form  of  a  bond,  but  not  in  the 
form  of  a  cash  retent.    We  feel  that  a  bond  will  give  us  all  the  pro- 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  lUl".  61 

tection  that  is  necessary,  and  that  we  might  as  Avell  save  the  money 
that  we  are  now  paying  for  the  douljle  safeguard. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Was  that  cash  retent  authorized  by  hiw,  or 
was  it  simply  a  regnhition  on  the  part  of  the  commissioners? 

CoL  KuTz.  Xo,  sir :  it  is  hiw,  and  there  is  no  nnif orinity  about  it. 

Senator  Smith.  There  is  a  bill  on  the  subject,  introduced  by  Mr. 
Johnson  in  the  House.    Have  you  seen  that  bill '( 

Col.  KuTZ.  This  is  the  same  thing. 

Commissioner  Newman.  It  was  our  bill,  introduced  by  him. 

Senator  Smith.  It  is  the  same  bill  that  you  are  now  talking 
about? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes,  sir. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  And  it  has  been  favorably  reported  to 
the  House  by  Mr.  Johnson's  committee. 

Senator  Smith.  The  note  that  3'ou  have  here  is  in  accordance  w-ith 
the  bill  that  you  have  had  introduced  by  Representative  Johnson? 

Col.  KuTZ.  Yes,  sir.  We  are  advised  that  the  amount  of  the  cash 
retent  is  approximatel}'  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars.  The  District 
is  paying  interest  on  that  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  continuously 
at  the  rate  at  which  the  contractor  can  borrow  money. 

Commissioner  Newman.  It  is  in  the  form  of  an  increased  price. 
He  includes  that,  of  course,  in  his  bid. 

Col.  KuTz.  And  as  the  Federal  Government  is  doing  a  much 
vaster  business  without  the  double  safeguard,  we  do  not  see  the 
necessity  for  it  in  the  case  of  the  District  government. 

Senator  Dillingham.  You  are  paying  interest  on  how  much,  Mr. 
Commissioner  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  I  think  it  is  $240,000,  if  I  remember  the  figures  cor- 
rectly. 

Commissioner  Newman.  That  is,  we  pay  the  interest  in  the  form 
of  the  price  in  the  contract,  Senator  Dillingham. 

REPAIRS  TO   SUBURBAN    ROADS. 

Col.  KuTz.  On  page  30,  line  15,  the  House  has  placed  a  limit  of 
price  on  the  truck  of  $1,000.  We  feel  that  this  is  an  unwise  limita- 
tion. We  have  no  desire  to  purchase  a  truck  any  stronger  or  more 
expensive  than  is  needed  for  the  purpose.  The  trucks  in  the  District 
service  vary  from  very  light  trucks  that  will  carry  three-quarters  of 
a  ton  to  trucks  that  will  carry  five  tons ;  and  while  a  thousand  dollars 
might  be  a  suitable  limit  for  the  smaller  truck,  it  is  entirely  inade- 
quate for  the  heavier  truck. 

Senator  Smith.  You  do  not  want  any  limit,  do  you ;  or  have  you 
a  limit  of  jour  own  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  I  should  like  to  have  the  limit  placed  at  $'2,000  on  this 
particular  item. 

widening    of    FOURTEENTH    STREET    SW. 

Just  after  line  8,  page  30.  we  wish  to  have  inserted  an  item,  as 
follows : 

That  the  conimissioners  are  hereby  authorized,  in  connection  with  the  re- 
surfacing of  the  roadway  of  Fourteenth  Street  SW.,  from  B  Street  to  Water 
Street,  to  increase  the  width  of  said  roadway  to  not  exceeding  55  feet. 


62  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPPJATION    BILL,  1917. 

The  commissioners  are  bai-red  by  law  from  changing  the  width  of 
the  street  unless  in  the  change  they  can  reduce  the  cost  of  the  pave- 
ment; so  that  it  virtually  requires  legislative  authority  whenever  we 
want  to  increase  the  width  of  the  street.  This  street  is  just  in  front 
of  the  Bureau  of  Printing  and  Engraving.  There  is  a  great  deal  of 
traffic  there,  and  imder  our  general  authority  we  were  proposing  to 
resurface  the  street  this  last  year.  AMien  we  came  to  study  the  situ- 
ation in  detail  it  seemed  wise  to  widen  the  street  in  connection  with 
the  resurfacing,  and  we  are  therefore  asking  this  authority. 

Senator  Smith.  Does  it  require  any  expenditure  of  money? 

Col.  KuTz.  Only  out  of  existing  funds  for  the  repair  of  streets. 

Senator  Smith.  No  appropriation  is  necessary? 

Col.  KuTz.  No  appropriation  is  asked  in  connection  with  the  item. 

REPAIRS  TO  SUBURBAN   ROADS. 

Senator  Smith.  You  speak,  in  line  15,  of  putting  the  limit  of  cost 
of  the  truck  at  $2,000.  Does  that  necessarily  increase  the  appropria- 
tion ? 

Col.  KuTz.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  You  would  leave  that  the  same?  It  does  not 
affect  it?    " 

Col.  KuTz.  So  far  as  the  appropriation  itself  is  concerned 

Senator  Smith.  You  asked  for  $175,000,  and  the  House  gave  vou 
$150,000,  instead  of  $U5,000,  as  last  year? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir.  I  think  that  is  an  item.  Senator,  the  im- 
portance of  which  you  will  appreciate  very  much.  It  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  in  coming  from  Maryland  into  the  District  of  Columbia 
you  can  recognize  the  District  line  by  the  fact  that  you  go  from  a 
good  road  to  a  bad  road.  In  most  cases  the  Maryland  roads  ap- 
proaching the  District  are  paved  very  much  better  than  the  District 
roads  they  join. 

Senator  Smith.  That  is,  you  go  from  the  good  roads  of  INIaryland 
to  the  bad  roads  of  the  District  of  Columbia  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir.  The  travel  on  the  suburban  roads  is  increas- 
ing every  year,  and  our  appropriation  for  the  repairs  of  suburban 
roads  has  been  inadequate  for  a  number  of  years.  The  House  granted 
us  an  increase  of  $5,000  against  the  $25,000  that  we  asked  for.  AVe 
believe  that  every  dollar  of  the  $175,000  can  be  advantageously  ex- 
pended. 

WIDENING  OF  GEORGIA   AVENUE. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Where  is  the  amendment  that  you  propose? 

Col.  KuTz.  The  amendment  proposed  comes  in  just  aftpr  line 
17,  and  is  in  connection  with  the  widening  of  Georgia  Avenue — a 
proceeding  which  was  instituted  by  the  commissioners,  and  is  now  in 
the  courts.  There  are  two  Federal  reservations  fronting  on  Georgia 
Avenue.  One  is  the  Battle  Ground  National  Cemetery,  and  the  other 
is  the  Walter  Reed  General  Hospital.  The  condemnation  proceed- 
ings do  not  apply  to  Federal  property,  but  we  will  take  a  strip  off 
of  all  the  other  property  on  Georgia  Avenue;  and  we  want  the 
necessary  authority  to  set  back  the  hedges,  copings,  and  steps  of  these 
two  Government  reservations. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  lOlT.  63 

The  commissioners  have  taken  up  the  matter  with  the  Secretary 
of  War.  and  he  assents  to  tlie  use  of  this  hind  for  highway  purposes, 
under  the  condition  that  Ave  set  back  the  hedges  s(^  that  there  will 
be  no  charge  to  his  appropriation.  I  think  it  is  a  very  reasonable 
and  proper  thino-  to  do,  and  so  far  as  we  know  everyone  is  in  accord 
with  it.  " 

The  proposed  amendment  reads  as  follows: 

And  so  nuich  of  the  Government  reservations  known  as  tlie  Walter  Reed 
General  Hospital  Keservation  and  the  Battle  Ground  National  Cemetery  Reser- 
vation, designated  as  parcels  S9/S  and  123/29.  respectively,  in  the  District  of 
Columhia.  as  lie  within  the  lines  of  Georgia  Avenue  as  laid  down  on  the  liigh- 
way  plans  with  a  width  of  90  feet,  are  liereby  declared  to  be  a  public  high- 
way under  the  control  and  jurisdiction  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  District 
of  Columbia :  Provided.  That  the  hedfres,  fences,  retaining  walls,  and  other 
structures  on  said  reservations  which  are  now  erected  within  said  lines  of 
Georgia  Avenue  as  laid  down  on  the  highway  plans  shall  be  removed  and  re- 
constructed to  conform  to  said  widened  highway,  and  the  cost  thereof  shall  be 
paid  from  the  appropriation  for  repairs  to  suburban  roads. 

The  amount  involved  is  only  about  $-2,000 — I  mean  the  cost  of 
changing  the  hedges,  steps,  and  copings. 

REPAIR  OF  SIDEWALKS. 

Senator  Smith.  There  is  a  discrepancy  between  what  you  asked 
for  and  what  the  House  granted  vou.  on  lines  9  to  11.  page  30.  You 
asked  for  $25,000.  and  last  vear'  vou  had  $10,000,  while  the  House 
gave  you  $15.000. ' 

Col.  KuTZ.  That  is  a  very  important  item.  Mr.  Chairman.  AVe 
asked  not  only  for  an  increase  in  the  appropriation  but  for  a  slight 
change  in  the  phraseology. 

The  sidewalks  in  front  of  private  property  in  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia are  generally  in  better  condition  than  the  sidewalks  in  front 
of  Federal  property;  and  the  appropriation  for  the  replacing,  re- 
newal, or  laying  of  sidewalks  in  front  of  Federal  property  has  been 
so  limited  that  we  have  not  been  al)le  to  keep  pace  with  the  demands. 
I  liave  a  number  of  specific  cases  in  mind — two  in  which  I  think 
dangerous  conditions  exist.  If  a  citizen  stubs  his  toe.  falls,  and 
breaks  a  leg,  the  District  will  be  sued,  so  that  the  responsibility  rests 
on  the  commissioners. 

One  of  these  cases  is  on  the  Fifteenth  Street  side  of  the  Treasury 
Department.  There  is  a  pavement  laid  Avith  old  blue  flagstone  on  a 
sand  cushion.  Xot  only  are  the  flags  themselves  out  of  place  but 
many  of  them  are  broken.  We  can  make  a  temporary  repair  by  re- 
laying those  flags,  but  by  the  time  we  take  them  up  and  replace  the 
broken  ones  and  reset  the  others  we  shall  have  sipent  practically  as 
much  mone}'  as  a  concrete  sidewalk  would  cost.  We  would  like  this 
year  to  replace  at  least  a  ])art  of  that  sidewalk  with  a  new  sidewalk. 

There  is  a  similar  condition  existing  at  Farragut  Square,  on  the 
Seventeenth  Street  side  of  which  the  pavement  is  of  blue  stone,  and 
in  passing  over  it  the  other  day  I  noticed  several  places  that,  in  my 
judgment,  were  dangerous. 

We  liaA-e  another  case  on  Fifteenth  Street,  running  from  the 
Sherman  Statue  down  to  the  ^Monument.  The  sidewalk  is  an  old 
coal-tar  paA'ement,  heaved  up  by  the  roots  of  the  large  poplar  trees 
in  some  places  as  much  as  G  inches,  with  corresponding  depressions 


64  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

which  are  nothing  but  pools  of  water  after  a  shower.  There  are 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  people,  tourists,  coming  to  town,  who 
take  that  route  in  going  to  the  Monument,  and  that  pavement  should 
be  replaced;  but  Avith  only  $10,000  to  keep  in  repair,  replace,  and 
build  new  sidewalks  in  front  of  all  of  the  Government  reservations 
in  the  District,  we  simply  can  not  do  more  than  the  important  ones, 
and  we  have  favorerd  the  school  houses  in  the  laying  of  sidewalks — 
that  is,  Ave  felt  that  Ave  ought  to  make  provision  for  the  school 
children  first.  But  the  three  pavements  that  I  have  referred  to 
ought  to  be  corrected,  Avithout  doubt,  in  the  near  future. 

Senator  Smith.  The  GoAernment  is  not  keeping  its  sidewalks  in 
as  good  condition  as  the  citizens  of  AVashington? 

Col.  KuTz.  It  is  not  keeping  them  in  as  good  condition  as  the 
citizens  are  required  to  do.  We  can  go  in  front  of  any  private 
property,  whei'e  a  dangerous  condition  exists,  and  relay  the  side- 
walk and  assess  half  of  the  costs  against  the  property. 

Senator  Smith.  Then  you  are  requiring  the  citizens  to  keep  their 
sideAvalks  in  a  better  condition  than  that  in  Avhich  the  Govern- 
ment keeps  its  sidewalks? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.  sir :  I  think  that  is  true. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  spoke  of  an  asphalt  walk.  Would  you 
lay  an  asphalt  sidewalk  on  Fifteenth  Street,  in  front  of  the  Treas- 
ury Building,  or  a  granolithic  one? 

Col.  KuTz.  A  granolithic  one.  The  existing  one  on  Fifteenth 
Street,  south  of  the  Sherman  Statue,  is  an  old  coal-tar  pavement. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes;  I  understand. 

Col.  KuTz.   But  Ave  are  laying  nothing  but  granolithic  sideAvalks. 

OPENING    AND    AVIDENING   OF    MINOR    STREETS    AND    ALLEYS. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  think  that  is  right. 

What  about  this  note  on  page  30  Avhich  seems  to  enlarge  your 
authority  in  the  matter  of  making  assessments  for  the  opening  of 
alleys  and  minor  streets?     Is  that  important? 

Commissioner  Neavman.  .1  consider  that  quite  important,  Senator. 
It  is  intended  to  make  it  possible  to  deal  Avith  a  number  of  alley  situ- 
ations in  the  District. 

For  a  good  many  years  there  has  been  an  effort  to  improve  the 
physical  condition  in  those  squares  in  which  there  are  interior  alleys 
in  Avhich  people  live  in  small  dAvelling  houses.  Several  years  ago — I 
do  not' remember  just  when,  but  it  Avas  some  considerable  number  of 
years — an  act  Avas  passed  authorizing  the  commissioners  to  put  minor 
streets  through  these  squares.  It  Avas  believed  at  that  time  that  if 
a  square  that  had  interior  alleys  should  be  cut  through,  and  a  minor 
street  established,  that  would  automatically  improve  the  physical  con- 
dition by  giving  society  access  through  the  scjuare,  and  the  policing 
A\ould  be  improved,  and  the  general  condition  would  improve  itself. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  I  understand  that  this  only  affects  property 
belonging  to  the  Government  ? 

Commissioner  Neavman.  Oh,  no;  it  affects  private  property.  \on 
see,  there  are  over  200  squares  in  the  city.  Senator,  in  the  interior  of 
Avh'ich  are  alleys  on  Avhich  there  are  dAvelling  houses— little  houses  in 
Avhich  people  live.  Sometimes  the  entrance  from  the  street  into  that 
network  of  allevs  is  very  small,  very  narroAV.  You  get  inside  and 
you  find  cross  alleys  running  there,  and  people  living  in  them. 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  65 

Senator  Smith.  This  applies,  however,  not  only  to  alleys,  but  to 
any  street,  avenue,  road,  highway,  or  alley. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.   Yes. 

Senator  Smith.  It  applies  to  all  manner  of  streets  I 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes.  sir.     I  will  explain  that. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  This  is  the  present  law  as  to  all  streets 
and  highways.     It  adds  alleys  and  minor  streets  to  the  existing  law. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  It  adds  minor  streets  to  the  theory  under 
which  we  are  now  proceeding  with  reference  to  avenues  and  streets. 

Senator  S^iith.  You  Avant  to  extend  the  jurisdiction  to  the  minor 
streets  and  alleys?     Is  that  the  idea ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes.  sir.  The  act  to  which  this  is  an 
amendment,  wliich  it  was  hoped  would  make  it  possible  to  put  minor 
streets  through  some  of  these  squares,  provided  that  the  entire  cost 
and  expense  should  be  assessed  as  benefits  upon  the  property  within 
that  square  and  the  property  within  the  four  squares  facing  on 
that  square.  The  commissioners  undertook  to  put  through  a  minor 
street  in  a  case  of  that  kind,  and  the  case  was  dismissed  by  the 
court  on  the  ground  that  the  benefits  were  excessive ;  that  being  re- 
stricted to  the  squares  confronting  the  square  in  which  the  street 
was  to  be  put.  the  benefits  were  too  much:  that  the  property  could 
not  bear  it:  that  it  was  not  a  benefit  to  that  exent ;  and  so  it  Avas 
knocked  out.  and  the  law  has  been  inoperative. 

Senator  Smith.  Then,  under  this  law.  if  the  property  could  not 
bear  it.  you  would  have  a  right  to  make  such  change  as  you  thought 
proper  ? 

Senator  Gallixger.  You  would  have  a  right  to  go  beyond  to  as- 
sess benefits? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  This  proposal  merely  gives  the  jury  au- 
thority to  go  beyond  those  surroundings  squares  in  spreading  the 
benefits.    The  jury  could  go  oA'er  as  wide  an  area  as  it  desired. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  I  understand  that  you  would  have  a  right  to 
make  this  assessment  even  if  it  confi«r>ated  the  property  of  the  peo- 
ple that  you  were  affecting? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Of  course,  the  assessment  made  is  the  re- 
sult of  a  court  verdict.  The  commissioners  do  not  make  it.  It  is 
made  as  the  result  of  a  verdict  of  a  jury,  by  a  court  order.  Of 
course,  no  verdict  which  is  actually  confiscatory  will  stand  under 
any  circumstances.  If  it  could  be  shown  that  it  was  confiscatory, 
it  would  be  set  aside,  of  course.  This  merely  gives  the  jury  author- 
ity to  spread  these  benefits  over  a  wider  area  than  they  are  per- 
mitted to  spread  the  benefits  over  at  present. 

Senator  S:mith.  The  result  of  it,  as  I  understand,  would  be  to 
lessen  the  assessment  to  any  particular  party  or  locality? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  It  would  probably  be  that. 

Senator  S:\riTH.  And  it  Avould  enable  you.  probably,  to  make  the 
change  by  going  over  a  larger  area  than  if  one  party  or  two  parties 
were  subject  to  this  assessment? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Yes.  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  Then  that  Avould  rather  help  the  parties  whose 
]n-operty.  under  the  present  laAv.  would  be  almost  confiscated  by 
the  change? 

45737— ir 5 


66  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes,  sir ;  and  there  are  quite  a  large  num- 
ber of  squares  in  which,  by  this  treatment,  we  hope  we  could  cure 
that  alley  evil  without  any  radical  taking  of  property,  or  radical 
or  expensive  procedure — merely  putting  the  minor  streets  through. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Of  course,  under  that  provision,  you  could 
go  half  a  mile  or  even  farther. 

Commissioner  Xeavman.  Oh,  under  this  provision  the  jury,  if  it 
Avanted  to,  could  spread  it  over  the  whole  District  of  Columbia. 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  But  the  jury  is  required  to  say  that  it 
found  the  benefits. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Has  any  suit  been  instituted,  or  any  proceed- 
ing of  any  kind  commenced  by  any  citizen  on  the  ground  that  the 
assessments  of  benefits  on  property  is  unreasonable  or  unjust? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Under  the  existing  alley  law  ? 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes;  under  the  existing  law. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Oh,  yes,  sir.  I  do  not  recall  the  exact 
form  which  the  proceeding  took.  Mr.  Garges  tells  me  that  property 
owners  in  one  case  filed  exceptions  to  the  verdicts,  and  those  excep- 
tions were  sustained  when  the  case  went  up,  on  the  ground  that  the 
benefits  as  found  by  the  jury  did  not  exist — that  they  were  so  great 
as  to  be  confiscatory. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  law,  I  think,  is  going  to  be  attacked  in 
the  near  future.    It  may  not  be. 

Commissioner  Newman.  This  particular  law,  as  far  as  it  a]3plies 
to  alleys,  with  this  restriction,  is  inoperative  now  on  account  of  that 
court  decision. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  is  inoperative;  .yes. 

Senator  Lea.  Then  yen  want  this  to  cure  the  omissions  that  were 
made  by  the  decision  of  the  court  in  that  case? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Not  exactly,  Senator.  The  present  law 
restricts  the  area  in  which  the  benefits  may  be  spread.  AVe  wish  to 
remove  that  restriction,  and  permit  the  jury  to  spread  the  benefits 
over  as  large  an  area  as  the.y  desire. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  restricts  it  to  the  property  embraced  in 
the  alley  itself  on  both  sides,  and  the  abutting  square.    Is  that  it  ? 

Commissioner  Neavman.  The  property  within  the  square  and  in 
the  confronting  squares. 

Senator  Gallinger.  And  in  the  confronting  squares;  exactly. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  The  four  confronting  squares:  not  tlie 
diagonal  ones. 

Senator  Gallinger.  My  own  impression  is,  and  has  been,  that  in 
getting  rid  of  alleys,  either  by  converting  them  into  minor  streets  or 
doing  something  else  with  them,  the  Government  and  the  District 
of  Columbia  ought  to  pay  the  bills,  and  not  impose  the  expense  upon 
a  few  propertv  owners  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  who,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  get  mighty  little  benefit  out  of  it ;  but  that  has  not  been  the 

rule.  •    1  T     1      T   • 

Commissioner  Newman.  I  think  it  might  very  equitably  be  divi- 
ded. I  think  the  Government  and  the  District  should  pay  something, 
because  it  certainly  would  be  a  general  improvement. 

Senator  (tallix'ger.  Oh,  certainly. 

Commissioner  Newman.  But  it  also.  Senator,  would  be  a  benefit  to 
the  property  in  the  immediate  vicinity. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Unquestionably  so. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  lOH.  67' 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  I  think  they  couhl  justly  bear  a  portion 
of  the  expense. 

CONTROL  OF  AQUEDUCT  BRmGE. 

Senator  Smith.  I  notice  on  pa<i'e  -31  a  provision  giving  to  the  com- 
missioners jnrisdiction  of  the  Aqueduct  Bridge. 

Col.  KuTz.  The  commissioners  felt  that  certain  economies  could  be 
effected  by  the  centralization  in  one  office  of  the  control  of  the  bridges 
of  the  District  of  Columbia.  As  the  matter  now  stands,  the  com- 
missioners control,  maintain,  and  operate  all  the  bridges  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  except  one  and  a  half. 

Senator  Smith.  Except  one  and  a  half? 

Col.  Kutz.  Yes.  sir.  They  control  one-half  otf  the  Aqueduct 
Bridge — that  is.  the  superstructure  of  the  Aqueduct  Bridge.  The 
piers  come  under  the  local  engineer  officer.  Col.  Flagler.  The  High- 
way Bridge  is  in  charge  of  the  public  buildings  and  grounds  office, 
Coi.  Harts.  So  that  there  are  three  separate  offices  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  controlling  the  bridges  of  the  District.    ■ 

Senator  Owex.  Why  is  that?  Why  do  you  not  put  them  under 
one  head?     Why  is  not  that  a  proper  recommendation? 

Commissioner  Newmax.  W^e  are  making  it  now. 

Col.  Kutz.  We  have  so  recommended. 

Senator  Owex.  Why  are  not  all  the  bridges  put  under  one  au- 
thority ? 

Senator  Lea.  This  provision  does  it.  Senator. 

Senator  Owex.  This  does  put  them  all  under  one  authority? 

Senator  Lea.  This  is  the  recommendation  of  the  commissioners. 

Senator  Smith.  This  is  the  recommendation  of  the  commissioners, 
and  I  am  just  asking  him  to  give  his  reasons  for  it.  That  is  what  he 
is  driving  at  now.  They  make  a  proposition  here  to  change  the  law 
so  that  they  will  have  all  the  bridges  under  their  jurisdiction. 

Col.  Kutz.  There  is  an  unnecessary  expense  under  the  present  ar- 
rangement, because  the  District  must  maintain  a  bridge  de]:)artment, 
headed  by  a  bridge  engineer,  and  each  of  the  other  two  offices  must 
maintain  men  more  or  less  skilled  in  that  work;  and  certainly  no 
corporation  would  control  its  bridges  in  that  manner,  under  three 
separate  offices.  There  is  nothing  about  the  control  of  the  Highway 
Bridge  and  the  Aqueduct  Bridge  that  our  bridge  department  can  not 
do  and  do  well. 

Senator  Smith.  The  Aqueduct  Bridge,  as  I  understand,  is  par- 
tially under  the  control  of  the  War  Department  now;  is  it? 

Col.  Kutz.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  it  has  to  do  with  naviga- 
tion? 

Col.  Kutz.  No.  sir.  In  the  case  of  the  Aqueduct  Bridge  there  is  no 
navigation.  There  is  no  draw.  But  even  the  fact  that  the  Highway 
Bridge  has  a  draw  does  not  mean  that  it  ought  to  be  under  the  control 
of  the  War  Department.  There  are  ])lentv  of  private  bridges 
throughout  the  country  over  which  the  War  Department  exercises 
jurisdiction  so  far  as  the  opening  of  the  draw  is  concerned,  and  they 
will  do  that  in  the  case  of  the  Highway  Bi'idge.  whoever  controls  it. 
There  is  a  draw  in  the  Anacostia  Bridge  that  is  under  the  control  of 


68  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATIOX    BILL,  1917, 

the  comniissidners.  so  it  can  not  be  the  presence  of  a  draw  that  is  the 
reason  for  this  divided  jurisdiction. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Another  interesting  condition.  Senator 
OAven.  is  that  the  District  Commissioners  police  the  Avater  under  the 
bridges.     The  District  line  is  high  tide  on  the  Virginia  shore. 

Senator  Owex.  I  think  the  jurisdiction  of  the  War  Department  is 
historical,  and  dates  back  to  a  time  when  the  water  supply  of  the 
city  of  Washington  Mas  under  its  control. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Xo:  this  is  a  little  different  from  that. 

Senator  Owex.  But  I  am  speaking  of  the  control  of  the  Aqueduct 
Bridge. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  The  Aqueduct  Bridge  was  built  to 
carry  the  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Canal  over  the  river  to  Alexandria. 
The  bridge  was  then  purchased  by  the  municipality  of  Georgetowii, 
and  Avas  subsequently  purchased  hy  the  Government  from  the  munici- 
pality of  Georgetown. 

Senator  Owex.  At  all  events,  the  placing  of  this  jurisdiction 
within  one  authority  is  the  proper  step. 

Col.  KuTz.  Both  of  the  bridges — the  Highway  Bridge  and  the 
Aqueduct  Bridge — were  built  on  the  half-and-half  basis.  That  is^ 
they  Avere  not  built  solely  at  the  expense  of  the  Federal  Government, 
so  that  they  are  in  the  same  category  as  any  other  District  institution, 
and  the  bridge  that  has  just  been  authorized  to  replace  the  present 
Aqueduct  Bridge  is  also  being  built  on  the  half-and-half  basis. 

Senator  S:mith.  AVithout  looking  at  it.  do  you  remember  the  ob- 
jection that  the  House  committee  had  to  accepting  this  proposition? 

Col.  KuTZ.  Xo.  sir.  They  did  not  offer  any  objection.  I  think  the 
only  justification  that  can  be  made  for  the  War  Department  control 
is  the  fact  that  these  tAvo  bridges  lead  from  the  District  to  the  State 
of  Virginia — that  is.  they  lead  out  of  the  District:  they  A'irtually  con- 
nect the  District  with  a  State — and  it  is  on  that  ground  that  Federal 
control  is  advocated.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  that  is  a  sufficient 
reason,  however. 

Senator  Lea.  Does  the  AVar  Department  antagonize  this  amend- 
ment i 

Senator  S^iith.  The  bridges  are  under  the  control  of  the  War 
Department. 

Col.  KuTz.  I  think  the  VCav  Department  prefers  to  keep  them — to 
i-etain  control.    AA"e  have  not  taken  it  up. 

Senator  Oavex.  You  can  assume  that  any  department  will  prefer 
to  maintain  its  own  jurisdiction,  ahvays,  under  all  circumstances, 
without  regard  to  any  other  considerations. 

Senator  Lea.  Do  the  officials  of  the  AA^ar  Department  protest 
against  this  change? 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  Secretary  Garrison  favored  it.  He  Avas 
on  the  point  of  approving  it  when  he  resigned. 

Senator  Smith.  AA^ould  it  not  be  under  the  control  of  the  GoA'ern- 
ment  even  if  the  District  commissioners  had  it  ? 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  Certainly. 

Col  KuTz.  AA^e  are  all  presidential  appointees. 

Senator  Smith.  I  notice  an  item  here,  farther  down,  as  follows : 

For  sm-veys  and  plans  for  bridge  to  take  the  placp  of  the  existing  bridge 
across  Potomac  River  known  as  the  Aqueduct  Bridge,  .$10,000. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOP^IATIOX    BILL,  lOlT.  69 

Col.  KuTz.  Of  course,  that  item  o-oes  out  nutouiatically,  because  an 
aj^propriation  has  been  made  for  the  bridge  itself. 

Senator  Smith.  That  renders  this  no  longer  necessary? 
Col.  KuTz.  That  is  no  longer  necessary. 

CALVERT  STREET  BRIDGE. 

The  next  item  that  we  would  like  to  have  taken  up  for  consider- 
ation, with  a  view  to  including  it  in  the  bill,  is  the  Calvert  Street 
Bridge.  That  is  not  an  unsafe  bridge.  A  number  of  years  ago 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  uneasiness  felt  about  it.  and  the  then  com- 
missioners called  in  a  bridge  expert  from  Baltimore:  and  as  a  result 
of  his  investigation  he  advised  the  narrowing  of  the  bridge,  in 
order  to  reduce  the  load  on  the  trusses  and  on  the  piers.  That  was 
done,  but  narrowing  the  bridge  congested  the  traffic.  It  is  just  a 
light  iron-truss  bridge,  and  the  commissioners  feel  that  the  time  has 
come  when  preliminary  steps  should  l^e  taken  to  replace  the  bridge. 
What  we  wanted  this  year  was  an  appropriation  from  Avhicli  we 
could  have  plans  prepared.  "We  feel  that  this  bridge  should  be.  to 
a  certain  extent,  ornamental  in  character,  at  least  in  keeping  with 
the  Connecticut  Avenue  Bridge,  and  that  the  best  results  could 
probably  be  obtained  by  inviting  competition,  and  selecting  three 
or  four  competent  men  to  submit  designs.  It  was  with  that  in  mind 
that  we  asked  for  $10,000.  Some  part  of  that  will  be  needed  for 
making  preliminary  investigations. 

Senator  Smith.  What  will  the  construction  of  that  bridge  cost, 
Colonel  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  I  think  about  $400,000.  or  possibly  $3."')0.000— that  is, 
assuming  that  it  is  to  be  a  masonry-arch  bridge.  We  can  throw  a 
single-span  bridge  across  there,  and  some  very  effective  preliminary 
designs  have  been  made  by  a  man  interested  in  the  subject,  but 
merely  a  sketch :  not  any  detailed  plan. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  That  bridge  was  built  by  the  street- 
railway  company.  It  was  not  built  at  public  expense  in  the  first 
place. 

Commissioner  Xewman.  There  is  only  one  narrow  roadway  on 
each  side.  A  vehicle  going  over  the  bridge  in  either  direction  can 
not  pass  another  vehicle  going  in  the  same  direction. 

Senator  Lea.  What  was  the  cost  of  the  Connecticut  Avenue 
Bridge  ? 

Col.  Kt'Tz.  About  a  million  dolkirs.  This  will  cost  considerably 
less  than  half  that  amount. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  There  is  only  one  roadway  on  each  side. 

Senator  Dillixgha:m.  I  recall  it. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Two  vehicles  going  in  the  same  direction 
can  not  pass  each  other  there. 

Senator  S:mith  of  ^Maryland.  That  is  across  Rock  Creek? 

Commissioner  XEw:\rAX.  Yes. 

Senator  Oavex.  What  was  the  cost  of  the  Rock  Creek  Bridge? 

Commissioner  Xew:max.  About  a  million  dollars. 

Senator  Owex.  What  kind  of  bridge  did  you  contemplate  as 
being  the  best  suited  for  that  point  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  A  single-arch  bridge,  built  of  reinforced  concrete, 
faced  with  stone. 


70  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^Maryland.  This  bridge  is  used  by  the  street 
raihvay  company  ^ 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  the  bridge  you  contemplate 
building,  or  asking  an  appropriation  for  plans,  etc.,  for  would  also 
be  used  by  the  street  railway  company? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Then,  in  that  case,  should  not  the 
street  railway  company  be  taxed  to  help  build  this  bridge? 

Col.  KuTz.  "Well,  sir 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  I  do  not  believe  that  need  be  considered 
in  this  connection.  That  need  not  be  considered  until  it  comes  to 
the  consideration  of  the  appropriation  for  the  bridge. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  know :  but  if  the  Government 
appropriates  this  money  aiid  takes  it  upon  itself  to  build  this  bridge, 
it  would  want  to  know  something  about  who  is  benefited  and  who 
should  help  to  pay  for  it. 

Col.  KuTz.  I  think  this  question  may  well  be  considered  on  this 
preliminary  appropriation. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  think  if  you  are  going  to  get  plans 
by  the  Government,  and  to  provide  for  the  building  of  it,  we  ought 
to  Ivnow  who  is  benefited  and  who  should  pay  for  it. 

Col.  KuTZ.  Let  the  report  on  the  plans  include  a  recommendation 
as  to  what  proportion  of  the  cost  should  be  charged  to  the  railway 
company. 

Senator  Owen.  Have  you  not  any  force  of  men,  who  are  engineers, 
to  make  those  plans,  so  that  you  can  do  so  in  your  own  department, 
without  employing  outside  people  to  do  it  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  Xo.  sir:  I  do  not  think  they  could  make  satisfactory 
plans  for  a  bridge  of  that  character,  because  I  think  you  want  con- 
siderable architectural  treatment  on  the  bridge. 

Senator  Dillingham.  How  high  is  the  floor  of  that  bridge  from 
the  street  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  I  do  not  know. 

Commissioner  Brownloav.  It  is  very  high. 

Senator  Dillingha3i.  It  is  the  highest  in  the  city,  is  it  not? 

Commisisoner  Brownlow.  It  is  very  high. 

Senator  Oaven.  I  notice  in  this  item  here  $20,000  for  surveys  and 
plans  of  these  two  bridges. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  One  of  them  is  done  away  with.  That 
is  not  necessar}^  noAv. 

Senator  Oaven.  I  knoAv,  but  that  is  the  estimate  made  for  plans 
for  two  bridges,  $20,000. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes. 

Senator  Oaven.  For  $20,000  you  could  employ  men  as  higltly  quali- 
fied in  architecture  as  necessar}'. 

Col.  KuTz.  Oh.  yes,  sir;  Ave  can.  But  Ave  feel  that  Ave  would  get 
better  results  if,  instead  of  employing  a  single  architect  to  make  plans 
for  the  bridge,  we  invited  competition,  designating  tAvo  or  three  or 
four  bridge  engineers  or  architects  to  prepare  plans  for  a  bridge  on 
this  site. 

Senator  Oaven.  It  looks  to  me  like  a  waste  of  money,  and  it  looks 
to  me  as  though  you  ought  to  have  workmen  thoroughly  competent 
to  do  this  on  the  economic  basis  and  the  beautiful  basis.     I  see  no 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  71 

reason  why  beauty  and  economy  conld  not  be  combined  in  the  work 
of  this  department.  I  see  no  reason  for  turning  these  matters  over 
to  a  lot  of  people  who  charge  all  sorts  of  fanc}'  prices  without  giving 
you  any  adequate  return  for  what  you  paj'.  I  know  if  I  were 
transacting  this  business  as  my  own  business,  and  was  expending 
money  on  this  scale,  I  Avould  have  my  own  corps,  and  I  would  get 
men  who  were  sufficiently  competent  to  do  it,  too. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Senator,  we  can  not  employ  bridge  archi- 
tects for  the  salaries  which  we  liave  to  pay  to  bridge  engineers. 

Senator  Owex.  Instead  of  spending  this  $'20.000  to  pay  for  out- 
side people.  I  would  put  it  in  this  department,  and  you  can  then 
employ  a  man  who  is  competent.  This  District  is  doing  architectural 
work  of  a  high  order  all  the  time. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Yes. 

Senator  Owex.  And  it  seems  to  me  you  ought  to  have  an  architect 
of  a  high  order.  There  is  nothing  occult  about  architecture;  noth- 
ing whatever. 

Commissioner  Neavmax.  Our  own  force  has  produced  some  very 
good  things.  Our  school  buildings,  with  the  exception  of  the  Cen- 
tral High  School,  for  which  an  outside  architect  was  employed,  have 
been  done  by  our  own  force. 

Senator  Owex.  The  Supervising  Architect  of  the  Treasury  sent 
a  man  down  to  the  town  that  I  live  in  to  construct  a  public  building 
there.  He  designed  it.  planned  it.  and  built  it.  and  a  more  beautiful 
building  does  not  exist  on  the  footstool.  It  is  a  royal  building  in 
every  way.  It  is  a  wonderful  piece  of  work.  I  do  not  think  that 
man  gets"  over  iM^.OOO  or  $5.000 — something  like  that. 

Col.  Krxz.  The  municipal  architect  who  designs  all  the  District 
buildings  gets  $3,500  only. 

Senator  Owex.  Yes,  but  here  is  $20,000  for  two  plans  and  surveys. 
I  do  not  regard  that  as  economical.  I  may  be  wrong  about  it.  I  do 
not  pretend  to  be  very  expert.  But  it  does  not  look  right  to  me,  and 
if  there  is  an  economy  which  can  be  served  here,  I  do  not  mean  at 
the  sacrifice  of  architectural  l^eauty  or  architectural  dignity  or 
architectural  excellence,  but  if  there  can  l3e  a  substantial  economy  in 
this  work  by  putting  a  man  of  a  high  order  in  your  department  and 
paying  him  a  fixed  salary,  not  only  to  make  these  plans  and  these 
surveys,  but  other  plans  and  other  surveys  that  are  coming  along 
every  season.  I  think  it  ought  to  be  done.  I  would  be  glad  to  have 
the  opinion  of  you  gentlemen  upon  that,  whether  there  is  something 
in  my  suggestion  which  is  unsound;  and  if  there  is,  I  hope  you  will 
not  hesitate  to  say  just  exactly  what  is  in  your  minds,  because  I  do 
not  want  to  have  my  opinions  weigh  except  on  the  basis  of  sound 
reason  and  judgment. 

Commissioner  XEAv:vrAx.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  bulk  of  our  work 
of  an  architectural  and  constructing  character  is  utilitarian  rather 
than  architecturally  ornamental.  I  suppose  that  90  per  cent  of 
the  duties  of  the  people  who  build  our  buildings — whatever  struc- 
tures we  have  to  do — 90  per  cent  of  their  activity,  of  their  ability, 
must  be  in  the  practical  routine  matters  of  utility.  I  may  be  mis- 
taken, but  it  would  seem  to  me  doubtful  if  we  have  a  sufficient  amount 
of  the  higher  grade  of  architectural  Avork  to  justify  the  employment 
of  such  a  man  as  j'ou  suggest. 


72  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  bridge  building  a  specialty  with 
engineers  ? 

Commissioner  Xew:.iax.  Oh.  of  course. 

Senator  S:mith  of  Maryland.  And  can  you  get  an  architect  for 
general  purposes  who  is  competent,  probably,  to  build  bridges  equal 
to  the  bridges  built  by  specialists  in  that  line?  Does  it  require  spe- 
cialists for  bridge  building? 

Col.  KuTz.  There  are  several  ways  of  building  ornamental  bridges. 
In  the  case  of  the  Connecticut  Avenue  Bridge  they  held  a  competi- 
tion similar  to  the  one  we  had  in  mind.  The  commissioners  desig- 
nated four  bridge  engineers  as  competitors,  and  they  awarded  three 
prizes — first,  second,  and  third.  They  used  a  part  of  the  money  to 
make  an  examination  of  the  foundations,  including  borings,  and 
that  information  was  made  available  to  all  the  competitors.  The 
designs  were  submitted  and  then  passed  upon  hj  a  board,  and  the 
best  of  the  four  designs  was  selected.  I  think  the  preliminary  ap- 
propriation in  that  case  was  $10,000,  the  amount  we  asked  for  in 
this  case.  In  the  case  of  the  Q  Street  Bridge,  which  has  just  been 
finished,  and  which  is  more  or  less  ornate,  the  commissioners  em- 
ployed an  architect,  who  worked  in  conjunction  with  the  bridge 
department,  and  $5,000  was  paid  to  him  for  that  small  bridge  that 
cost  only  about  $:200,000. 

Then,  in  the  case  of  the  Pennsylvania  Avenue  Bridge  across  Eock 
Creek,  the  bridge  was  entirely  designed  by  the  bridge  department  of 
the  District  of  Columbia.  ^Ye  did  not  call  in  any  architect  at  all. 
It  is  simple  in  its  lines  and  might  be  termed  a  utilitarian  bridge; 
but  it  is  faced  with  granite  and  is  not  by  any  means  an  ugly  bridge. 

Senator  Gallic ger.  That  is  the  bridge  now  under  construction? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Col.  KuTz.  In  the  case  of  the  Aqueduct  Bridge,  which  is  being 
built  by  the  War  Department,  it  had  been  my  intention,  and  I  under- 
stand it  is  the  intention  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  to  have  the 
Ijridge  designed  in  the  local  engineer's  office  by  the  regular  force  and 
then  call  in  an  architect  to  dress  the  bridge;  that  is,  to  dictate  the 
lines  of  ornamentation.  In  the  case  of  the  Calvert  Street  Bridge  we 
helieve  that  more  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  beauty  and  the 
lines  of  the  bridge  than  is  necessary  in  the  case  of  the  Aqueduct 
Bridge,  and  we  feel  that  we  will  get  the  best  results  by  holding  a 
competition.  If  we  employ  one  man,  as  you  suggest,  then  we  are 
limited  to  the  ideas  of  that  one  man.  If  we  invite  a  competition 
we  will  get  the  choice  of  ideas  from  four  of  the  best  men  that  we  can 
select,  and  in  the  National  Csipital  the  very  best  results  should  be 
secured. 

As  to  3'our  suggestion  that  we  take  on  a  bi'idge  designer.  t>  bridge 
architect,  as  well  as  a  bridge  engineer,  and  keep  him  regularly  in 
our  force,  the  only  objection  to  that  is  that  we  would  have  to  pay  a 
considerable  sum  of  money,  ])robably  $5,000  oi-  $0,000  a  year,  to  get 
a  suitable  man,  and  we  would  not  have  enough  work  to  keep  him 
busy  continuously  because  we  do  not  build  bridges  every  year.  There 
is  not  enough  work  of  that  character  to  wan-ant  the  continuous  em- 
ployment of  such  a  man. 

Senator  Owen.  AVhat  is  the  amount  in  this  bill  for  surveys,  plans, 
and  construction  of  various  kinds? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1017.  73 

Col.  KuTz.  These  are  the  only  two  items  that  I  know  of. 

Senator  S:mith  of  Maryland.  One  of  them  was  eliminated. 

Senator  Owen.  Eliminated  because  they  are  going  to  build  the 
bridge. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes. 

Commissioner  Newman.  ^Ve  are  just  now  finishing  a  new  high 
school  for  colored  pupils  which  will  cost  a  quarter  of  a  million  dol- 
lars, with  a  capacity  of  1.500  students.  That  ^Vas  designed  by  the 
municipal  architect. 

Senator  Owex.  They  are  going  to  build  this  bridge  across  the 
Potomac  here  to  Arlington.    Is  not  that  provided  for? 

Commissioner  Xew:max.  Xo  :  this  is  the  Aqueduct  Bridge.  I  think, 
that  you  have  confused  with  that. 

Col.  KuTz.  The  memorial  bridge.  . 

Senator  Owex.  I  am  speaking  of  the  memorial  bridge. 

Col.  KuTz.  There  has  been  no  appropriation  made  for  that. 

Senator  Owex.  Xo  appropriation,  but  it  has  been  authorized,  has 
it  not? 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo. 

Senator  Owex.  "What  became  of  that  bill?  It  passed  the  Senate, 
did  it  not? 

Senator  Dillixgham.  I  think  two  bills  passed  the  Senate,  but 
never  were  acted  upon  by  the  House. 

Senator  Owex.  So  that  it  is  pending  now? 

Senator  Gallixger.  There  were  bills  passed  through  the  Senate 
years  and  years  ago  relating  to  this  bridge.  I  assume  that  we  need 
not  worry  over  the  proportion  that  the  street  railway  might  have 
to  pa}'  to  construct  this  bridge.  That  will  be  provided  for  when 
we  make  the  appropriation. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^Maryland.     Yes:  I  understand. 

Senator  Gallixger.  They  built  that  bridge  originally  out  of  their 
own  funds.  Of  course  it  was  a  land  scheme  in  the  first  place,  and 
the  Chevy  Chase  Improvement  Co..  or  the  company  called  by  some 
such  name,  built  the  bridge  and  put  their  railway  on  it.  and  unques- 
tionably, if  we  have  to  build  a  bridge  there,  when  we  make  the 
ai3propriation  we  will  provide  that  they  shall  pav  a  certain  definite 
proportion. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  merely  asked  the  question. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  was  going  to  say  I  do  not  think  it  ought  to 
interfere  •v\'ith  agreeing  to  this  proposed  amendment. 

Col.  KuTz.  In  connection  with  this  item.  I  would  like  to  call  the 
attention  of  the  connnittee  to  the  fact  that  the  salary  of  our  engineer 
of  bridges,  as  authorized  by  hiAv,  is  $'2,250.  We  are  asking  a  modest 
increase  to  $2,100. 

Senator  Owex.  Here  is  the  point  I  am  making:  Here  is  an  amount 
of  $20,000.  You  say  that  $10,000  of  that  is  no"  longer  necessary  be- 
cause the  bridge  is  going  to  be  built,  and  this  bridge,  then,  instead  of 
requiring  $20,000  requires  $10,000  for  the  plans,  and  there  is  a  million 
dollars  approprited  for  the  building  of  that  bridge.  How  nuich  of 
that  are  you  going  to  pay  to  outside  engineers,  is  what  I  would  like 
to  know  ? 

Commissioner  Xew:max.  The  AVar  Department  is  goino;  to  build 
that. 


74  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Owex.  How  much  will  be  expended  bj-  the  War  Depart- 
ment in  that  respect^ 

Col.  KuTz.  It  depends  on  what  they  call  on  the  architect  to  do,  but 
I  imagine  possibly  as  much  as  $10,000. 

Senator  Owex.'  As  much  as  $10,000  ?    Is  that  all  ? 
Col.  KuTz.  Yes. 

Senator  Owex.  On  a  $1,000,000  construction? 

Col.  KuTz.  I  think  so.  The  purpose,  as  I  understand  it.  is  to  en- 
gage a  corps  of  men  to  design  that  bridge  in  the  office  of  the  local 
engineer  officer,  and  to  call  in  an  architect  when  the  engineering- 
plans  have  been  tentatively  prepared,  to  dress  the  finished  structure, 
and  I  should  say  that  $10,000  would  be  ample  compensation  for  that 
kind  of  work. 

Senator  Oavex.  If  this  jurisdiction  and  control  over  the  Aqueduct 
Bridge  should  be  changed  under  the  proposed  amendment,  then  the 
commissioners  Avould  build  that  bridge,  would  they  not  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo.  sir:  I  do  not  think  so.  That  was  not  our  intention. 
This  would  merely  transfer  control  over  the  existing  bridge,  which 
is  knoAvn  as  the  Aqueduct  Bridge.  The  new  bridge  would  be  built 
by  the  War  Department,  and  I  think  upon  completion  similar  steps 
should  be  taken  providing  for  its  transfer  to  the  commissioners,  so 
far  as  maintenance  and  operation  are  concerned. 

Senator  Owex.  The  language  is.  "  jurisdiction  over  and  control 
over  the  Aqueduct  Bridge."  etc. :  and  further.  "  and  all  appropria-  ^ 
tions  herein  made  and  all  unexpended  balances  of  appropriations  * 
heretofore  made  for  said  bridges  shall  be  expended  under  the  direc- 
tion of  said  commissioners,"  and  so  forth. 

Col.  KuTz.  That  was  applied  to  the  two  existing  bridges,  but  I  do 
not  think  it  would  be  applicable  to  the  new  bridge,  which  is  author- 
ized and  not  yet  named. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Another  thing.  Senator,  this  thing  was 
submitted  by  us  last  fall,  and  nobody  knew  that  there  was  to  be  an 
appropriation.  We  have  no  intention  of  disturbing  the  status  of 
this  new  act. 

Senator  Owex.  You  ought  to  build  it. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  This  amendment  here  looks  to  me  as 
if  it  gives  full  control  over  the  money  appropriated. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  The  language  of  the  statute  authorized 
a  new  bridge  to  replace  the  Aqueduct  Bridge. 

Senator  Dillixghatne.  Xot  at  the  same  situation. 

Commissioner  Browxloav.  "At  or  near." 

Col.  KuTZ.  It  will  not  interfere  with  the  old  bridge,  at  all. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  will  be  a  bit  lower? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  I  think  logically,  you  are  correct;  this  is 
a  District  of  Columbia  enterprise. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  provides,  "  all  appropriations 
herein  made  and  all  unexpended  balances  of  appropriations  hereto- 
fore made  for  said  l)ridges  shall  be  expended  under  the  directions  of 
said  commissioners." 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  That  is  for  maintenance  and  operation. 

Senator  Owex.  On  ^May  18  there  was  $150,000  ai:)propriated  for 
ihe  construction  and  the  making  of  the  ]ilans,  and  so  forth,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  replacement  of  this  bridge.  I  do  not  think  that  under 
the  proper  interpretation  of  the  law  these  sums  which  have  been 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  75 

appropriated  would  be  regarded  as  applying  to  some  different  subject 
matter  than  the  Aqueduct  Bridge,  as  it  is  the  same  thing,  one  replac- 
ing the  other;  and  when  this  term  is  used  "'Aqueduct  Bridge,"  I  think 
it  would  only  mean  one  bridge,  and  not  two  bridges.  But  at  all 
events,  even  if  there  was  some  doubt  about  that,  the  language  of 
the  law  should  be  so  clear  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  confusion 
over  it. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Would  it  not  be  well,  if  you  want  to 
manage  the  bridge,  to  state  more  definitely.  ''  after  the  bridge  is 
finished  *'  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  I  think  so.  I  do  not  think  that  any  steps  ought  to  be 
taken  to  transfer  the  new  bridge. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  To  transfer  the  control  over  the 
bridge  after  it  has  been  built? 

Col.  KuTz.  But  if  you  will  insert  the  words.  ''  control  over  the 
existing  Aqueduct  Bridge."  I  think  this  language  would  apply  only 
to  the  two  existing  bridges. 

Senator  Oavex.  I  do  not  know  what  provision  has  been  made  in 
this  bill  on  other  points,  but  I  understand  that  the  War  Department 
exercises  a  jurisdiction  over  a  large  part  of  the  activities  of  the  Dis- 
trict. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes;  all  the  parks,  except  the  Rock  Creek  Park,  which 
is  jointly  controlled  by  the  War  Department  and  the  District  Com- 
missioners. 

Senator  Owen.  Why  should  it  be  jointly  controlled?  Is  that  a 
compromise  between  two  conflicting  ambitions? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  It  is  the  result  of  the  wisdom  of  Con- 
gress.   That  is  the  only  reason  I  know. 

Senator  SiNtiTii  of  Maryland.  Then,  if  I  understand  right,  this 
matter  should  be  so  amencled  as  to  give  them  control  of  the  present 
bridge  and  the  Aqueduct  Bridge  after  it  is  completed;  not  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  building  or  the  management  of  the  appropriations  that 
have  been  made. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes;  although  the  control  of  that  bridge 
might  very  well  go  over  until  it  is  completed.  I  agree  with  you, 
Senator  Owen,  that  logically  this  lu-idge  should  be  built  by  the  Dis- 
trict government.  It  is  a  District  institution.  But  I  am  much  more 
anxious  to  get  a  bridge  than  I  am  to  have  anv  difficultv  al)out  who 
shall  build  it. 

Senator  Owen.  That  is  all  right.  The  appropriation  has  been 
made  for  the  bridge.    We  will  get  a  bridge. 

Commissioner  Neavman.  Yes. 

Senator  Owen.  What  I  want  to  ask  you  just  now  is,  what  reason 
there  is  for  this  confusion  in  the  jurisdiction  and  the  management. 
The  War  Department.  I  understand,  has  control  over  many  things. 
The  United  States,  of  course,  retained  the  control  over  the  streets 
for  war  purposes,  and  the  streets  were  laid  out  with  these  circles  and 
triangles,  etc.,  so  as  to  give  a  convenient  sweep  in  every  direction  for 
cannon  shot. 

Commissioner  Xewman.  So  that  they  might  quell  disturl)ances. 

Senator  Owen.  Yes. 


76  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  There  has  developed  in  the  Army  a 
bureau  of  parks.  There  is  a  Iwreau  of  parks  Trhich  buihls  and  main- 
tains and  polices  all  these  different  circles,  triangles,  and  park-^. 

Senator  Owex.  It  seems  to  me  that  Congi-ess.  in  the  exercise  of 
that  wisdom  for  which  Ave  all  have  such  a  profound  reverence,  ought 
to  get  this  matter  settled  for  once  and  for  all  and  have  the  admin- 
istrative powers  of  this  District  in  the  hands  of  one  authorit}^  instead 
of  its  being  so  divided  up. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  You  are  absolutely  right.  Senator. 

Senator  Owen.  Has  that  matter  been  considered  by  the  committees 
as  a  general  subject  matter? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Xot  in  recent  years,  I  think. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  think  you  would  have  to  revise  the  code  to 
bring  it  about. 

Senator  Owex.  That  would  be  necessary  ?  Would  not  the  admin- 
istration be  better?  Senator  Gallinger.  you  have  given  a  great  deal 
of  attention  to  this.     Would  it  not  be  better? 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  agree  with  you  that  there  ought  to  be.  if 
possible,  one  authority:  but  whether  we  can  bring  it  about  or  not  is 
another  question. 

Senator  Oavex.  These  commissioners  are  the  servants  of  the  Gov- 
ernment anyway. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Certainly. 

Commissioner  Xewmax*.  All  of  these  bureaus  are  mere  agencies  of 
Congress.  The  Board  of  Commissioners  is  an  agency  of  Congress. 
The  bureau  of  parks  and  the  War  Department  are  agencies  of  Con- 
gress.    There  are  two  or  three  agencies  doing  one  job  for  Congress. 

Senator  Owex.  I  understand  there  are  six  or  seven  sets  of  book- 
keeping relating  to  the  affairs  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  Is  that 
true  ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax'.  Yes. 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  If  you  walk  directly  from  here  to  the 
White  House,  through  the  MnW.  by  way  of  the  Washington  Monu- 
ment, you  will  pass  through  five  different  police  systems. 

Senator  Owex.  Do  you  think  that  is  right.  Senator  Gallinger? 

Senator  Gallixger.  If  it  exists,  it  ought  to  be  corrected. 

Senator  Owex.  I  was  just  saying  that  I  Avas  in  favor  of  transfer- 
rinof  all  this  authority  to  the  District  commissioners. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  There  is  nothing  Ave  Avould  like  better — 
to  get  that  situation  straightened  out  and  systematized. 

Senator  Oavex.  You  say  going  from  here  to  the  Monument  you 
would  pass  thi'ough  fire  different  jurisdictions  of  police? 

Commissioner  Xeav:max.  Yes. 

Senator  Oavex.  What  are  these  systems  of  police? 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  First,  the  Capitol  police:  sec<5nd.  the 
Botanical  Garden  police:  third,  the  park  police:  fourth,  the  Agricul- 
tural Dejiartment  police:  and  then,  in  the  AVhite  House  Grounds,  the 
Metropolitan  ])olice. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Of  coui'se  there  are  a  number  of  other 
divided  jurisdictions  besides  that  of  the  War  Department,  and  of 
course  it  Avorks  l)etter  than  you  Avould  think  it  Avould  to  look  at  it 
on  paper. 

Senator  Oavex.  I  should  like  to  have  you  have  made  up  for  the 
use  of  this  record  a  statement  of  these  conflicting  jurisdictions,  so 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  liJlT,  77 

that  we  Avoiikl  have  a  clear-cut  statement  of  what  these  jurisdictions 
are. 

(The  statement  referred  to  is  as  follows:) 

The  followinj:  niemoranfluni  is  submitted  showing  the  division  of  authority 
or  jurisdiction  in  the  District  of  Columbia  over  matters  of  a  municipal  nature, 
such  as  parks,  police,  bridges,  water  system,  and  others. 

This  statement  shows  oul.v  the  municipal  activities  where  jurisdiction  is  not 
placed  with  the  commissioners,  but  with  other  agencies : 

1—2.  Fimnu'c  offices — Sijikhii/  fund  office. — Tlie  bonded  debt  is  administered 
by  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  ex  officio  commissioner  of  tlie  sinking 
fund  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  That  officer  pays  all  interest  on  the  IMstrict 
3.60  lionds.  purchases  bonds  for  investment  of  sinking  fund  appropriations,  and 
redeems  or  purchases  such  bonds  as  are  offered  at  a  market  rate  warranting 
their  retirement  before  maturity.  Payments  on  this  account  are  made  one-half 
from  District  revenues  and  one-half  from  United  States  revenues. 

1-4.  MisceUaneous  executive  offices — Excise  board. — All  excise  matters  are 
administered  by  an  excise  board  consisting  of  three  members  appointed  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate.  The  expenses  of  this  board  are  paid  in  like  manner  as  other  District 
exi^enses  by  and  through  the  commissioners. 

II-2.  Militia. — The  District  militia  or  National  Guard  is  under  the  command 
of  the  commanding  general  of  the  militia.  This  officer  submits,  through  the 
commissioners,  to  Congress  all  estimates  for  the  expenses  of  the  militia.  The 
disbursement  of  the  appropriations  made  therefor  are  made  by  the  disbursing 
officer  of  the  militia,  on  vouchers  approved  by  the  commanding  general  of  the 
militia.  The  regular  appropriation  for  this  purpose  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
act  for  1916  is  $79,664. 

iy-4.  Bridges.— The  control  of  all  bridges,  with  the  exception  of  the  High- 
way Bridge  across  the  Potomac  River  and  the  piers  of  the  Aqueduct  Bridge, 
is  vested  in  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  Aqueduct 
Bridge  is  subject  to  a  dual  control,  the  War  Department  having  jurisdiction 
over  the  piers  and  the  commissioners  having  jurisdiction  over  the  superstruc- 
ture. It  is  presumed  that  the  control  of  the  Highway  Bridge  is  vested  in  the 
War  Department  for  the  reason  that  said  bridge  is  adjacent  Potomac  Park,  and 
the  War  Department  has  jurisdiction  over  the  public  parks  of  the  District,  in- 
cluding the  Potomac  Park.  The  annual  appropriations  for  the  Highway  Bridge, 
for  maintenance,  etc.,  and  appropriations  made  for  repairs  to  the  Aqueduct 
Bridge  piers  are  expended  under  the  direction  and  control  of  the  War  Depart- 
ment. The  appropriation  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Highwav  Bridge  for  1916 
is  S16.000. 

Y-1.  Board  of  Charities. — This  board  was  established  by  the  act  of  June  6, 
1000  (31  Stat.,  664),  and  consists  of  five  members,  i-esidents  of  the  District, 
appointed  by  the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  tbe  Senate, 
for  a  term  of  three  years.  It  is  given  general  supervisory  powers  over  all 
institutions,  societies,  or  associations  of  a  charitable,  eleemosynary,  correc- 
tional, or  reformatory  character  which  are  supported  in  whole  or  in  part  by 
appropriations  made  by  Congress.  These  appropriations  are  expended  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

V-4.  Board  of  Children's  Gaiardians. — This  board  was  established  by  the  act 
of  July  26,  1892  (27  Stat.,  268).  It  is  composed  of  nine  members  appointed  by 
the  judges  of  the  criminal  and  police  courts  of  the  District  of  Ci)Iumbia.  and 
possesses  powers  usually  possessed  by  such  boards.  It  acts  as  li'gal  guardian 
and  cares  for  all  children  committed  to  it  by  the  courts.  The  approprialidus 
for  this  board  are  expended  tlirough  the  commissioners. 

V-4.  Xatio)ial  Traininf/  School  for  Girls.— This  institution  cares  for  delin- 
quent girls  conunitted  to  it  by  the  courts.  It  is  managed  by  a  board  of  ti'ustees, 
and  its  affairs  conducted  independently  of  the  commissioners ;  all  expenditures 
being  made  by  its  treasurer.  Practically  all  of  the  Inmates  are  received  from 
the  District  of  Columbia.  The  expenses  of  the  institution  are  paid  from 
appropriations,  half  and  half.  United  States  and  District  of  Columbia ;  the 
amount  of  the  approporiation  for  1916  being  $2.5,600. 

Y-8.  Support  of  convicts. — Appropriations  made  jointly  from  District  of 
Columbia  and  United  States  revenues  for  the  support  of  District  convicts  sent 
to  the  Federal  penitentiaries  are  expended  under  the  direction  of  the  Attorney 
General  of  the  United  States.  If  the  proposed  legislation  be  enacted  authoriz- 
ing the  sending  of  these  convicts  to  the  District  reformatory,  then  payments  will 


78  DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

be  made  to  that  institution  instead  of  to  the  several  penitentiaries  for  the  mruu- 
tenance  of  the  convicts  there  committed.  The  regular  appropriations  for  this 
service  amount  to  about  §90,000. 

VI-1.  Public  »or/t.s. — The  control  of  the  public  schools  is  placed  by  the  act 
of  June  20.  1906.  under  a  board  of  education,  appointed  by  the  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  District  of  Columbia.  It  directs  the  general  administration 
and  has  jurisdiction  in  all  questions  of  general  policy  relating  to  the  schools, 
appoints  officers  and  teachers,  and  directs  school  expenditures.  The  law 
further  provides,  however,  that  all  expenditures  of  public  funds  for  school 
purposes  shall  be  made  and  accounted  for  as  now  provided  by  law  under  the 
direction  and  control  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

VI.  Public  Libraries. — The  District  of  Columbia  Public  Library  was  estab- 
lished under  the  act  of  June  3,  1896  (29  Stat..  244)  and  is  in  charge  of  a 
board  of  library  trustees,  composed  of  nine  members  appointed  by  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  board  is  given  power  to  make  all 
necessary  rules  needed  for  the  administration  of  the  library's  affairs.  The 
appropriations  thefeft)r  are  expended  through  the  commissioners. 

VII-1.  Parks. — In  general  the  park  system  of  the  District  is  under  the  direc- 
tion and  control  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers  of  the  United  States  Army,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Rock  Creek,  under  the  board  of  control  of  Rock  Creek 
Park,  and  the  National  Zoological  Park  under  the  Board  of  Regents,  Smith- 
sonian Institution.  The  cost  of  care  and  iiuprovements  of  all  parks  is  paid 
one-half  by  the  United  States  and  one-half  by  the  District  of  Columbia ;  the 
appropriations  for  care  and  improvement  generally  being  paid  under  direction 
of  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  expenses  of  the  Zoo  Park  being  paid  by  dis- 
bursing agent  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  The  park  employees,  also 
park  police,  are  under  the  direction  of  the  United  States  Superintendent  of 
Public  Buildings  and  Grounds. 

IX.  Water  Supply  System— Washington  Aqueduct  and  Filtration  Plant. — 
The  aqueduct  system  is  under  the  direction  and  control  of  the  Chief  of  Engi- 
neers of  the  United  States  Army.  The  water-distribution  system  is  under  the 
direction  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  supply  system 
has  to  do  with  bringing  the  water  into  the  city :  while  the  distribution  system 
has  to  do  with  the  laying  of  mains,  etc.,  for  distribution  of  water  to  the  various 
public  buildings  and  to  the  citizens'  residences,  business  houses,  etc. 

The  expenses  of  the  aqueduct  system  (water  supply)  are  paid  from  appro- 
priations, half  and  half,  United  States  and  District  of  Columbia,  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 

The  expenses  for  water  distribution  are  paid  wholly  from  the  water  fund, 
made  up  of  water  rents  and  collections,  through  the  commissioners. 

A.   TWEEDALE, 

Auditor,  District  of  Columbia. 

Senator  Owen.  T  should  also  like  to  know  under  what  heads  the 
accounts  of  this  District  are  kept.  I  understand  there  are  five  differ- 
ent bookkeeping  systems. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  At  least. 

Senator  Owen.  And  the  statement  of  accounts,  or  the  balancing 
of  accounts,  would  be  impossible. 

Commissioner  Xewman.  I  shall  be  glad  to  get  that  for  you. 

Senator  Owex.  Do  you  not  think  Ave  ought  to  have  that  informa- 
tion, Mr.  Chairman  ?  , 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes. 

(The  information  requested  is  as  follows:) 

The  following  memorandum  is  submitted  in  response  to  request  for  informa- 
tion showing  the  separation  of  accounts  dealing  with  the  District  of  Columbia 
in  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  This  information  is  submitted''in  regard 
to  two  matters:  (1)  How  District  revenues  and  appropriations  are  treated  on 
the  Treasury  books;  and  (2)  how  the  account  between  the  United  States  and 
the  District  of  Coluniliia  is  stated  and  kept  on  the  Treasury  books. 

First,  as  to  revenues :  All  moneys  deposited  by  the  collector  of  taxes  or  other 
officers  with  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  on  account  of  tax  collections, 
etc..  are  covered  into  the  Treasury  as  receipts  of  the  United  States,  and  appear 
in  the  annual  statement  or  report  of  the  Treasurer  to  Congress.     The  report 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  79 

for   the  fiscal   year  endod   Juno  30.   lOl.'i.   is  contaiiU'il   in   DitcnnuMit   No.   27.')0". 
Treasur.v  Department,,  ontitled.   "Combined  statement  of  tlie  receii)ts  and  dis- 
bursements, l)alan('es.  etc..  of  llu>  United  Slates."  on  pauc  20.  as  follows: 
Disti-ict  of  Columbia  : 

From  revenues  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  as  follow.s — 

(ieneral  fund $S.  028,  627.  47 

Escheated  estates  relief  fund 93.  25 

Industrial  Home  School  fund 4.  0,S3.  78 

Industrial  Home  School  for  Colored  Children  fund 200.  m 

Water    fund 715.  462.  12 


Total 8.  748.  527.  61 

From  trust  funds — 

Firemen's  relief  fund $39,338.31 

Guarant.v    fund 34.68 

Miscellaneous  trust  fund  deposits 509,  411.  67 

Permit    fund '_ 23,588.70 

Police  relief  fund 82,  415.  47 

Surplus   fund 15.  00 

Washington  redemption  fund___ 132.388.41 


Total    funds 787. 192.  24 


Total  receipts  under  caption  District  of  Columbia 9,535,719.85 

Appropriations  made  by  Cong-ress  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  including  both 
those  payable  wholly  from  District  revenues  and  those  payable  .iointly  by  the 
United  States  and  the  District  of  Columbia,  are  made  in  three  principal  bills — 
the  District  liill,  the  siuidry  civil  bill,  and  the  lesislative,  executive,  and  .iudicial 
bill.  At  times  District  appropriations  appear  in  sundry  bills ;  for  in- 
stance, the  public  buiUlins's  bill,  the  Army  bill,  and  others.  In  the  Treasury 
Department  these  appropriations  appear  on  some  five  different  ledgers — • 
the  District  of  Columbia  ledger,  the  Judiciary  ledger,  the  War  ledger, 
the  Interior  Department  ledger,  the  miscellaneous  civil  ledger.  At  no  one 
place  are  all  District  appropriations  brought  together,  except  at  the  close  of  the 
year,  when  the  Auditor  for  the  State  and  Other  Departments  makes  an  abstract 
from  all  of  the  various  ledgers  where  he  finds  District  appropriations,  so  that 
he  may  state  the  account  between  the  District  and  the  United  States,  by  setting 
np  on  one  side  the  amount  of  moneys  deposited  by  the  District  during  the  year, 
and  on  the  other  side  the  amount  chargeable  to  the  District  for  advances  under 
the  several  appropriations  spread  all  over  the  Treasury  Department's  books. 
The  auditor  of  the  District  has  consistently  urged  from  year  to  year  that  all 
appropriations  of  all  kinds  whatsoever  for  the  expenses  of  the  government  of 
the  District  of  Columbia  be  included  in  the  regular  annual  District  of  Columbia 
appropriation  bill,  so  that  the  several  items  might  appear  in  one  ledger  in  the 
Treasury,  and  also  for  the  reason  that  Congress,  knowing  the  total  of  this  one 
bill,  would  have  before  it  in  plain  figures  the  amount  required  for  the  expenses 
of  the  District  for  a  year.  To-day  in  order  to  ascertain  the  appropriation  cost 
of  maintenance  of  the  local  government,  it  is  necessary  to  hunt  through  at  least 
three  bills,  and  often  more  if  items  are  appropriated  in  minor  bills  in  addition 
to  the  regular  suppl.v  bills. 

It  is  only  by  reason  of  the  excellence  of  the  bookkeeping  and  accounting  sys- 
tem in  the  District  of  Columbia's  auditor's  office  that  the  omission  of  items  is 
avoided  in  the  stating  of  the  annual  account  between  the  District  and  the 
United  States  Treasury,  for  the  reason  that,  notwithstanding  the  efficiency  of 
the  Treasury  accounting  force,  the  system  of  appropriation  and  accounting — in 
sundry  instead  of  one  ledger — is  bad  in  principle  and  liable  to  error,  for  the 
reason  that  there  is  no  central  accounting  control,  in  so  far  as  the  matter  of 
District  appropriations  on  the  Treasury  books  is  concerned. 

All  District  of  Columbia  appropriations  should  appear  in  one  bill — the  regu- 
lar District  appropriation  bill.  The  accounting  for  such  appropriation  would 
then  appear  on  one  ledger  in  the  Treasury  Department — the  District  ledger. 

At  the  close  of  each  fiscal  year  the  Auditor  for  the  State  and  Other  Depart- 
ments goes  through  the  sundry  ledgers  in  the  warrant  division  of  the  Treasury 
Department  and  picks  out  the  several  charges  against  the  District  on  account 
of  appropriations  appearing  on  the  several  books ;  against  the  sum  so  found  he 
places  the  amount  of  revenues  deposited  by  the  District ;  the  difference  between 
the  two,  taking  into  consideration  the  balances  l)rought  forward  from  the  prior 


80  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

year,  is  the  amount  due  ti)  the  District  from  the  United  States  or  by  the  District 
to  the  United  States,  as  the  case  may  be.  The  balance  so  found  is  then  entered 
on  the  personal  ledjier  of  the  Treasury  Department  having  to  do  with  accounts 
of  Government  fiscal  officers. 

Some  time  ago  an  effort  was  made  to  have  an  account  opened  on  the  Treasury 
books  in  the  name  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  said  account  to  be  credited  with 
all  revenues  deposited  and  charged  for  all  advances  account  appropriations,  but 
the  then  comptroller  refused  to  have  this  done,  stating,  in  substance,  that  inas- 
much as  all  uKHieys  deposited  by  the  District  were  "  United  States  "  moneys, 
there  was  no  need  to  open  such  account. 

A.    TWEEDALE, 

Auditor  District  of  Columbia. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Mr.  Commissioner,  you  spoke  of  the  Agriciil- 
tiira]  Department  police.  What  did  you  mean  by  that  ^  Does  the 
Agricultural  Department  appoint  policemen? 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  The  Agricultural  Department  grounds, 
Avhich  are  not  properly  a  part  of  the  park  system,  are  policed  hj  the 
policemen  of  the  Agricultural  Department.  They  have  police  au- 
thority from  the  commissioners.  But  the}'  ai'e  a  separate  force,  and 
our  men  do  not  go  in  there,  and  their  police  are  entirely  separate. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Do  you  not  think  the  Metropolitan  police 
could  go  in  there  and  make  an  arrest '( 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Undoubtedly :  as  a  matter  of  practice, 
although  the  Metropolitan  police  have  strictly  no  responsibility  for 
patroling  those  grounds. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  spoke  of  the  Botanic  Garden  police.  Do 
they  have  police?     The}'  have  watchmen. 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  I  know ;  but  they  have  police  authority, 
and  our  men  do  not  go  in  there. 

Senator  Gallinger.  They  could  go  in  there,  of  course. 

Senator  Oaven.  I  think  that  could  easily  be  corrected  by  giving  the 
Metropolitan  police  authority  to  serve  their  warrants  in  every  part 
of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  I  believe  they  have  that,  under  the  law 
making  these  jurisdiction  coextensive  "uith  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  am  very  sure  they  have. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Then  the}^  have  no  authority  to  serve  warrants 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  everywhere? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Yes;  and  I  Avill  have  to  see  that  they 
know  it. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  have  always  supposed  they  had  it. 

Senator  Owen.  They  have  it  by  amendment  or  by  general  pro- 
vision ? 

Commissioner  Brownloav.  By  general  provision. 

Commissioner  Xewman.  That  causes  administrative  confusion. 
For  instance,  I  was  down  in  Potomac  Park  last  summer  and  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  peninsula  one  road  goes  Avay  down  to  the  point 
and  comes  up  on  the  other  side,  and  another  road,  which  has  a 
macadam  road,  made  a  turn  inside  of  the  one  that  went  to  the  point. 
It  Avas  a  very  hot  night,  and  there  Avere  hundreds  of  moCor  cars 
doAvn  there,  and  the  road  that  Avent  up  the  other  side  of  the  peninsula 
Avas  cut  off.  and  the  cars  Aveiit  around  the  point  doAvn  there  on  both 
curves  and  piled  up  at  this  barrier,  and  they  all  had  to  turn  around 
and  go  back.  It  would  take  one  car  about  two  minutes  to  back  and 
turn  around  and  come  out,  and  during  that  time  the  cars  behind 
kept  on  coming  doAvn  and  piling  up  until  there  were  40  or  50  cars 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  lUlT.  81 

piled  in  behind  there.  The  result  Avas  that  that  whole  road  was  in 
a  condition  that  was  dangerous,  and  it  was  at  least  very  unpleasant 
to  the  public. 

As  soon  as  I  got  out  of  the  confusion  niY.self  I  went  to  iind  a  patrol 
box  and  called  up  the  third  precinct  station  and  told  them  about  it 
and  asked  them  to  send  a  man  down  to  meet  me,  and  they  said  that 
they  would  meet  me  at  the  entrance  to  the  park.  I  met  the  man  and 
said.  "  You  had  better  go  down  there  and  straighten  that  out."'  AVell, 
he  did  not  refuse  to  go.  but  I  saw  right  away  that  he  was  ver\'  re- 
luctant to  go  in  the  park  at  alL  and  finally  I  said.  "What  is  the 
matter  {  Why  do  you  hesitate  ?  *'  He  said.  ''  They  do  not  like  to 
have  us  go  in  there.  I  would  a  good  deal  rather  you  would  take  this 
up  with  the  park  police."  I  said.  ''  You  take  it  up  with  them,  then." 
Then  I  saw  him  afterwards,  for  his  report  on  it.  It  took  him  about 
10  or  15  minutes  to  find  an  officer  of  the  park  police,  and  finally  they 
got  down  there  and  got  the  thing  straightened  out.  That  Avas  an 
illustration,  in  a  little  thing,  of  the  confusion  of  administration. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Did  you  not  have  authority  to  do 
that  under  the  law  ( 

Commissioner  Xewimax.  It  seems  that  we  had. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  did  have  authority  to  do  it. 

Commissioner  Xewman.  It  seems,  as  a  matter  of  exchange  of 
courtesy  between  executive  officers  who  have  different  jurisdictions, 
he  would  not  go  in  there  without  the  approval  and  knowledge  of  the 
administrative  officer  in  charge  of  that  section. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Even  if  they  do  not  demur. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  Because  they  do  demur. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  In  the  end  the  authority  is  in  the 
District  Commissioners  to  act  in  the  matter,  is  it  not  ? 

Commissioner  Bkowxloav.  Evidently. 

(At  12  o'clock  m.  the  subcommittee  took  a  recess  until  -2.30  o'clock 
p.  m.) 

afternoon  session. 

The  committee  met.  pursuant  to  the  taking  of  the  recess,  at  2.30 
o'clock  p.  m. 

STATEMENTS  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF 

COLUMBIA— Continued. 

Senator  S:mith  of  ]Maryland.  I  think  we  were  talking  al)Out  tiie 
amounts  for  preparing  plans  and  specifications  for  a  bridge  to  take 
the  place  of  the  Calvert  Street  Bridge  across  Rock  Creek  when  we 
adjourned.  Have  the  commissioners  anything  further  to  say  in  re^ 
gard  to  that  matter  than  v.hat  has  already  been  said? 


.Col.  KuTz.  No,  sir.  The  next  thing  is,  at  the  bottom  of  page  31, 
sewers.  We  ask  for  a  very  considerable  increase  over  the  amount 
appropriated  last  year.  We  presented  to  the  House  the  details 
making  up  the  estimates,  and  every  item  in  the  detailed  estimates 
appealed  to  the  commi.ssioners  as  being  a  necessary  expenditure,  one 

45737—16 G 


82  DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL^  1917. 

that  should  be  made  at  this  time.  The  suburbs  of  the  District  par- 
ticuh\rlY  are  groAvino-  very  rapidly,  and  it  is  desirable  that  our  sewer 
system  keep  pace  Avith  the  building  development.  While  the  esti- 
mates do  appear  large  in  comparison  with  the  amounts  appropri- 
ated last  year,  we  feel  that  there  is  reason  for  every  item,  and  we 
would  like  to  ask  some  consideration  of  increasing  the  amounts  al- 
lowed by  the  House. 

v'-^enator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  notice  you  fix  a  sum — an  odd 
amount — $107,000.  How  do  you  arrive  at  that — by  any  definite  esti- 
mates of  the  cost  ( 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir:  that  is  made  up  of  detailed  estimates  that 
were  submitted  to  the  House  committee. 

Senator  Dillingham.  You  are  speaking  now.  Colonel,  of  suburban 
sewers,  are  you  not  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  The  first  item  I  refer  to  is  main  and  pipe  sewers. 

Senator  Siniith  of  Maryland.  I  understand  it  is  for  main  and  pipe 
sewers. 

Col.  KuTZ.  This  item  has  been  divided  up  into  several  sections,  the 
first  of  which  is  the  reconstruction  of  old  and  defective  main  sewers, 
for  which  we  asked  $15,000. 

Senator  Dillingham.  You  made  a  full  statement  to  the  House 
committee,  I  see. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  That  is  on  page  l-tl  of  the  House  hear- 

Senator  Dillingham.  Can  the  public  health  be  maintained  unless 
3'ou  have  ample  appropriations? 

Senator  Curtis.  I  should  think  thej^  needed  appropriations  for 
sewers  about  as  badly  as  anything. 

Col.  KuTz.  I  believe  that  the  investment  in  sewers  is  a  \evy  good 
investment,  and  I  believe  it  pays  to  be  in  advance  of  the  building 
development,  or  at  least  keep  pace  with  it.  The  item  "  ]\Iain  and 
pipe  sewers  "  refers  to  the  city  proper  and  not  to  the  suburbs,  and  a 
hirge  part  of  that  item  is  for  the  replacing  of  certain  parts  of  the 
sewer  system  that  are  over  40  j^ears  old — that  were  put  in  in  the 
days  of  the  board  of  public  works — in  which  lime  mortar  was  used 
in  the  brick,  and  Ave  have  cases  of  the  roofs  of  such  sewers  caving  in 
and  disintegrating.  "We  have  to  replace  them  gradually.  This  year 
v.e  believe  there  are  a  good  many  such  servers  that  ought  to  be  re- 
placed. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  think  you  need  that  $170,000  ? 

Cob  KuTz.  Yes,  sir:  I  believe  that  the  estimates  were  conserva- 
tively made. 

Senatoi-  Dillingham.  I  see  that  for  suburban  sewers  vou  asked 
i5^233.000  and  the  House  gave  you  $178,000. 

Col.  KiTz.  Yes:  the  amount  appropriated  last  year  was  $160,000. 
They  increased  it  about  10  per  cent.  We  are  constantly  being  peti- 
tioned by  the  residents  of  the  suburbs  for  some  means  of  inclosing 
the  storm  water  which  noAv  flows  over  private  lots,  and  this  item 
r:M!templates  a  number  of  extensions  of  our  trunk  sewers  into  the 
siiliurban  arfea  to  take  the  place  of  the  existing  streams  that  flow 
over  land  that  has  actually  been  subdivided  into  lots.  There  is  natu- 
rally an  objection  on  the  part  of  the  owners  of  such  lands  to  the  flow 
of  the  storm  water  over  them. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  11)17.  83 

There  is  only  one  other  item  under  the  head  of  the  sewer  depart- 
ment that  I  -svoukl  like  to  refer  to.  and  that  is  the  item  for  the  pur- 
chase of  lands  for  sewer-treatment  works  on  the  Potomac  lliver  near 
the  Home  for  the  Aired  and  Infirm,  an  item  of  $30,000.  Our  sewage 
now  is  discharged  into  the  Potomac  liiver  at  this  point  without  any 
treatment,  and  while  the  volume  of  flow  in  the  Potomac  is  relatively 
large,  and  the  sewage  is  diluted,  still  the  amount  of  sewage  is  con- 
stantly increasino-,  and  in  our  efforts  to  look  ahead  we  foresee  the 
time  when  Washington  will  be  called  upon  to  treat  its  sewage  before 
it  is  turned  into  the  Potomac,  and  it  is  with  that  in  view  that  we  are 
asking  that  preliminary  steps  be  taken  at  this  time  by  the  acquisition 
of  certain  additional  land  adjoining  the  reservation  of  the  Home  for 
the  Aged  and  Infirm. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Are  there  not  complaints  being  made 
by  people  who  are  there  on  the  Potomac,  or  further  down,  in  regard 
to  the  pollution  of  the  waters:  by  the  State  of  Virginia  and  ihe  State 
of  Maryland  both? 

Col.  ivuTz.  I  think  so.  Those  complaints  have  not  been  addressed 
to  the  commissioners,  but  to  the  Public  Health  Service,  and  the 
Public  Health  Service  has  been  making  an  exhaustive  investigation 
to  determine  just  what  the  pollution  of  the  Potcnnac  is,  and  our 
superintendent  of  sewers  is  working  with  the  Public  Health  Service. 
It  is  based  on  the  investigations  of  the  Public  Health  Service  that  we 
foresee  the  need  for  sewage-treatment  works  at  some  time  in  the  near 
future. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^laryland.  This  has  been  asked  in  conjunction 
with  the  views  of  the  Public  Health  Service? 

Col.  KuTZ.  Yes.  Our  idea  is  to  take  this  step  by  step ;  buy  the  land 
r.ow  while  we  feel  the  land  can  L*e  acquired  at  relatively  low  cost,  and 
then  next  year  or  the  year  after  we  will  ask  for  the  next  step  so  as  to 
spread  the  cost  over  a  number  of  years. 

Senator  Gallixgek.  How  much  land  do  you  propose  to  l)uy? 

Col.  KuTz.  Seventy-eight  acres. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  Government  owns  now  something  over 
100  acres,  does  it  not  i  The  exact  number  of  acres  I  have  forgotten. 
Perhaps  it  is  more  than  that. 

Col.  KuTz.  We  have  several  things  in  mind  in  connection  with  the 
acquisition  of  this  property.  One  is  this  sewage-treatment  ]>lant.  and 
the  other  is  the  establishment  at  that  point  of  a  municipal  garbage 
reduction  plant,  an  item  which  is  included  in  the  estimates,  and  by  the 
acquisition  of  the  land  herein  proposed  we  will  have  sufficient  for  all 
three  purposes.  It  will  then  be  divided  into  three  parts.  The  assessed 
value  of  this  land  is  $150  per  acre,  the  tc'tal  value  of  the  land  being 
$11,688.  and  the  improvements,  $3,300.  a  total  assessed  value  of 
$15,000. 

In  asking  for  $30,000  we  assume  that  buying  it  by  condenniation 
we  will  probably  have  to  pay  about  twice  the  assessed  value.  As  to 
the  garbage  plant,  an  investigation  has  been  made,  under  an  appro- 
priation of  $7,500  for  plans  and  specifications.  A  reconnnendation 
was  made  that  the  work  be  done  by  the  municipality  rather  than 
by  contract,  that  the  reduction  process  rather  than  the  incineration 
process  be  adopted  in  the  disposal  of  garbage;  that  the  refuse  and 
ashes  be  disposed  of  separately  from  the  garbage,  and  that  the  garb- 
age reduction  plant  be  established  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Home  for 


84  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPBIATION    BILL,  1917. 

the  xA.gecl  and  Infirm.  The  report  was  accompanied  by  pUms  and 
si:)€cificati()ns  and  estimates  of  cost.  We  inchided  such  an  item  in 
our  estimates,  and  also  embodied  it  in  a  special  bill  which  was  pre- 
sented in  the  House  and  discussed  before  the  House  District  Com- 
mittee. I  think  that  it  has  not  yet  reported  on  that  proposed  legisla- 
tion. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  proposed  purchase  is  to  embrace  how 
large  an  area? 

Col.  KuTz.  Seventy-eight  acres. 

Senator  Gallixger.  AVould  you  not  better  in  this  amendment  in- 
clude the  proposition  for  a  garbage  plant  and  for  the  purchase  of 
land  for  sewage-treatment  works,  that  might  or  might  not  appeal 
to  the  other  House — garbage  disposal? 

Col.  KiTz.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  site  selected  for  the  garbage- 
disposal  plant,  which  will  take  up  very  little  room,  is  on  property 
already  owned  by  the  Government,  and  no  part  of  this  T8  acres  would 
actually  be  necessary  for  that. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Did  I  understand  you  correctly  to  say  that 
the  sewage  now  reaches  the  Potomac  River  at  this  point? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes;  practically  at  that  point. 

Senator  Gallixger.  What  does  sewage  treatment  consist  of  ? 
What  is  the  modus  operandi  fcr  treating  sewage  before  you  let  it 
enter  the  river? 

Col.  KuTz.  There  are  a  number  of  systems  in  use.  The  Imhotf 
septic  tank  I  think  is  generally  accepted  as  the  best  process,  and  our 
study  so  far  has  led  us  to  believe  that  that  probably  would  be  the 
best  system  here.  In  the  course  of  several  years  it  will  probably  be 
modified  in  some  respects. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  think  you  had  better  put  in  the  area  which 
you  propose  to  purchase. 

Senator  S:\riTH  of  Maryland.  Xot  less  than  78  acres  ^  There  is 
that  much  in  this  property,  is  there? 

Col.  KuTz.  77.78  acres  is  the  exact  figure. 

Senator  S:mith  of  Maryland.  You  had  better  put  it  at  75  acres, 
then. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes. 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  Xot  less  than  7r)  acres. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Let  that  go  in  before  the  appropriation. 

Senator  Lea.  That  brings  us  to  the  garbage  plant,  does  it  not  ( 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  That  comes  on  later  on  in  the  bill. 

Senator  (tallixger.  Referring  to  the  item  concerning  sewers,  as 
tlie  commissioners  will  remember,  I  have  always  been  an  advocate 
of  very  lil)eral  ap]:)ropi'iati(ms  for  seAvers,  and  I  feel  sure  that  the 
committee  will  doubtless  give  that  very  careful  consideration. 

Senator  Curtis.  I  think  it  should. 

Senator  Ctallixger.  What  have  you  gentlemen  got  to  say  about  the 
increase  of  $"20,000  as  adopted  ))y  the  House  Avhich  would  provide 
increased  compensation  to  the  laborers  engaged  in  street-cieaning 
A\  ork  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  Our  recommendation  was  that  the  pay  of  the  street- 
cleaning  laborers.  Avhich  is  now  $1.50  a  day.  be  increased  to  $1.75.  and 
tliat  the  pay  of  drivers,  which  is  $1.75  a  <lay.  be  increased  to  $2  a  day. 
pnd  our  estimate  is  based  on  that  assumption.  That  makes  the  item 
$322,000. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1U17.  85 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Our  estimate  was  $322,000.  It  would 
require  $322,000  to  increase  those  laborers  to  $1.75  a  da)'. 

Senator  Curtis.  And  if  yon  do  not  increase  the  ap})ro|)riati()n,  and 
that  item  stays  in  there,  there  will  be  a  deficiency  ( 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  There  will  be  a  deficit.  AA'e  will  be  able 
to  do  less  work  on  the  streets;  and  if  you  made  the  increase  to  $2  a 
cay  the  appropriation  would  have  to  be  increased  not  only  beyond  the 
amount  allowed  l)y  the  House  but  beyond  the  $;)22.0()0  which  we 
estimated. 

Col.  KuTZ,  I  think  that  increase  of  25  cents  a  day  is  justified, 
though.  AVe  have  no  difficulty  in  filling  the  places  of  men  at  $1.50 
a  day.  We  always  have  a  waiting  list,  and  we  alwa3's  get  the  pick  of 
the  men  who  are  here  in  town. 

Senator  Smith  of  INIaryland.  How  many  hours  do  they  work  now? 

Col.  KuTz.   Eight  hours. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^Maryland.  And  you  get  all  the  men  you  w'ant? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir:  but  we  believe  that  due  to  the  increased  cost 
of  living  there  ought  to  be  some  increase  over  the  $1.50  a  day. 

Commissioner  Xew:max.  Speaking  for  myself,  I  would  favor  the 
House  provision. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  remember  that  at  a  former  hearing  the 
commissioners,  or  some  one  representing  the  commissioners,  sug- 
gested that  there  was  a  very  poor  quality  of  service  on  the  part  of  the 
ordinary  laborer  in  the  District  of  Columbia :  that  he  was  not  a  very 
intelligent  public  servant;  and  that  from  the  adjoining  States  he 
was  led  to  Washington  as  a  sort  of  a  liaven  of  rest,  and  would  accept 
employment  at  a  very  much  lower  rate  than  was  ordinarily  paid, 
and  tliat  the  services  of  these  people  really  were  not  worth  any  more 
than  Avas  being  paid  at  that  time. 

Col.  KuTz.  There  is  one  eifect  that  a  $2-a-day  provision  will  have, 
and  that  is  this,  that  there  will  be  a  diminution  of  the  hand  Avork  in 
cleaning  the  streets,  and  an  increase  in  the  machine  work,  because 
if  we  have  to  pay  $2  a  day  for  street-cleaning  labor,  we  can  beat  the 
cost  a  great  deal  by  using  machine  sweepers,  and  the  practical  effect 
of  an  increase  of  pay  to  $2  a  day  will  be  a  decrease  in  employees. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Will  that  be  any  detriment  to  the  interests 
of  the  District? 

Col.  KuTz.  I  do  not  know  that  it  would,  except  that  the  advantage 
of  the  hand  sweepers  is  this,  that  you  can  have  them  get  around 
more  frequently  and  take  up  the  worst  of  the  dirt,  whereas  if  you 
use  the  machine  street  sweepers  there  is  a  considerable  period  of  time 
between  the  different  visits  of  the  machines,  and  I  think  that  at 
times  the  streets  will  look  worse  than  they  do  with  the  hand  sweepers. 

Senator  DiLLixoHAii.  There  will  not  be  so  much  labor  employed 
under  the  new  provision  as  under  the  old? 

Col.  KuTZ.  There  will  be  a  tendency  to  employ  machines  instead 
of  men. 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  There  might  not  be  a  reduction  in  one 
year  as  compared  with  another,  because  the  area  of  cleaning  would 
be  increased  all  the  time.  There  might  be  a  relative  reduction  rather 
than  an  absolute  reduction. 

Senator  Curtis.  I  do  not  believe  you  ought  to  ask  them  to  work 
for  less  than  $2  a  day  the  way  everything  is  costing  now. 


86  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPKOPKIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Col.  Kttz.  The  only  tiling  is  that  contractors  and  people  in  com- 
mercial life  pay  $1.50  to  $1.75  a  day. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  are  raising  the  price  of  the  wage? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  ^ly  jjersonal  feeling  is  that  with  the 
class  of  -work  of  this  character  it  is  not  necessarily  proper  to  de- 
termine the  compensation  1)y  the  law  of  supph'  and  demand.  We  can 
get  plenty  of  people  to  work  for  $1.50  a  da}',  because  there  is  a  large 
laboring  population  here  and  very  little  for  them  to  do.  The  ques- 
tion in  my  mind  is  the  moral  example  of  the  Government  paying 
such  a  small  wage.  I  prefer  to  see  the  wages  of  the  class  based  on 
the 

Senator  Dillingham.  You  are  putting  up  the  price  at  which  one 
class  shall  be  paid,  and  leaving  out  all  the  rest. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  This  class  of  labor  is  one  to  which  I  think 
the  minimum-wage  theory  should  apply  rather  than  the  law  of  sup- 
ply and  demand. 

Commissioner  Beowxlow.  We  have  stenographers  who  work  for 
less  than  $2  a  day. 
.     Senator  Curtis.  You  do  ? 

Commissioner  Brownloav.  Yes,  sir;  $50  a  month. 

Senator  Curtis.  $2  a  day  is  about  $60  a  month. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  It  is  about  $50  a  month. 

Senator  Curtis.  "We  will  think  it  over. 

DISPOSAL  OF   CITY   REFUSE. 

Col.  KuTz.  This  item  of  legislation  I  do  not  care  to 

Senator  Gallixoer.  It  looks  like  Government  ownership,  what  I 
have  read  of  it. 

Col.  KuTz.  The  purpose  of  it  is  this.  Senator,  that  in  case  a  con- 
tractor for  municipal  waste  removal  should  fail  and  Congress  was 
not  in  session,  we  would  have  only  the  limited  sum  appropriated  for 
the  contract  to  use  for  collection  and  disposal,  and  this  legislation 
was  to  make  it  possible  to  take  over  the  plant  of  a  failing  contractor 
and  carry  out  his  contract.  But  it  is  only  to  cover  a  contingency 
which  is  now  remote,  but  which  at  the  time  this  legislation  was  writ- 
ten was  imminent. 

Senator  Lea.  Are  not  such  contractors  bonded  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.  they  have  a  bond ;  but  the  bonding  company  might 
not  be  able  to  continue  the  service,  and  we  might  have  to  go  into 
court  to  compel  them  to  make  uj)  the  difference  in  cost,  and  in  the 
meantime  the  garbage  ought  to  be  collected  frequently;  that  is,  there 
ought  not  to  be  any  interruj^tion  in  the  service. 

Senator  Lea.  If  you  have  a  solvent  l)ond,  I  should  think  you  could 
have  the  contract  carried  out  Avithout  interruption. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  could  surely  have  people  go  in  and  do  the 
work  for  you,  if  you  paid  for  it. 

Col.  KuTz.  There  would  be  noljody  else  witli  facilities  to  dispose 
of  the  collections. 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  A  large  pai't  of  the  cost  is  i)aid  by  the 
sale  of  the  products  of  the  reduction.  The  contract  we  haA'e  with 
the  man  who  does  the  work  provides  in  the  event  of  his  failure — if 
for  anv  of  the  reasons  set  forth  in  the  contract  the  contract  is  an- 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  87 

nulled — the  plant  is  turned  over  to  us;  the  oonnnissioners  nuiy  take 
possession  of  his  plant. 

Senator  CrRTis.  You  Inne  that  in  your  conti'act  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  We  have  that  in  our  contract  with  him; 
but  even  though  that  happened,  and  we  took  the  i^lant  over,  we  coidd 
operate  it  only  with  the  balance  of  the  appropriation  for  collection; 
but  we  would  have  no  authority  to  sell  the  product. 

Col.  KuTz.  And  even  if  we  sold  it.  the  money  would  go  into  the 
Treasury  and  would  not  be  available  for  our  use. 

Commissioner  Brown  low.  It  would  not  be  available  for  this  use. 

Col.  Kl'tz.  After  the  garbage  is  once  collected  it  has  a  value.  The 
collection  is  what  takes  the  money. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  money  received  for  the  garbage 
is  a  part  of  the  money  that  would  be  used  for  carrying  out  the  con- 
tract. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  private  contractor  would  have 
that  money  to  use.  but  you  could  not  have  that  as  District  Commis- 
sioners, because  the  money  would  go  back  into  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States  i 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  there  would  not  be  a  sufficient 
amount  to  carry  it  on? 

Commissioner  Neavman.  No,  sir. 

Col.  KuTz.  On  the  last  line  of  page  33  the  commissioners  sub- 
mitted an  estimate  for  this  disposal  service  of  $191,620,  and  the 
Honse  allowed  $179,945,  the  same  amount  that  was  appropriated 
last  year,  but  we  had  to  get  a  deficiency  of  $8,823.  The  estimate  of 
the  commissioners  was  based  on  existing  contract  prices  for  the  re- 
moval of  garbage,  ashes,  miscellaneous  refuse,  night  soil,  and  dead 
animals,  together  Avith  necessary  funds  for  inspection,  and  an  item 
of  $1,600  for  fencing  public  dumps.  In  this  estimate  the  contract 
price  for  the  disposal  of  ashes  Avas  $69,000. 'Avhich  is  the  contract  price 
for  the  present  fij-cal  year.  For  the  ensuing  fiscal  year,  hoAvever, 
bids  have  recently  been  received  and  contract  let  for  this  service  at 
the  rate  of  $60,000  per  annum,  so  that  the  estimate  of  the  commis- 
sioners should  be  reduced  from  $191,620  to  $182,620.  The  amount 
alloAved  by  the  House  of  $179,945  is  therefore  not  sufficient  to  meet 
the  contractual  obligations  and  other  expenses  by  $2,675. 

Senator  Gallinger.  The  second  paragraph  on  the  slip  relates  to 
the  construction  of  the  plant  for  the  disposal  of  the  city  refuse. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  said  a  moment  ago  that  that  Avas  to  be 
placed  on  Government  land  adjoining  the  Home  for  the  Aged  and 
Infirm,  I  think,  did  you  not? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Then  why  have  A'ou  the  phraseology  here 
"  acquire  by  purchase  or  condemnation  a  site  or  sites,  and  to  use  any 
land  belonging  to  the  District  of  Columbia."  etc.? 

Col.  IviTz.  There  are  tAvo  transfer  stations  contemplated,  and 
also  land  for  the  disposal  of  miscellaneous  refuse,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  pickery  Avhere  the  miscellaneous  refuse  Avill  be  culled  over 
and  the  valuable" parts  picked  out  and  sorted  and  sold;  so  that  there 
are  several  sites  to  be  purchased,  but  not  a  site  for  the  reduction 


88  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL^  1917. 

plant  itself.  Mr.  Osborn.  who  established  quite  a  reputation  for 
himself  as  an  expert  in  the  disposal  of  municipal  refuse,  made  and 
submitted  a  verv  complete  report  concerning  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, and  he  made  tentative  estimates  on,  or  considered,  at  least,  17 
different  projects  and  combinations  of  projects  for  the  disposal  of 
refuse,  and  he  finally  comes  down  in  his  analysis  to  three,  and  in 
the  end  selects  of  those  three  the  one  that  is  described  b}'  this  appro- 
priation bill.  It  provides  for  the  disposal  of  garbage  by  the  reduc- 
tion process,  and  the  disposal  of  municipal  refuse  in  the  usual  man- 
ner by  sorting,  picking,  and  selling  the  valuable  parts  and  by  the 
dumping  of  ashes  in  low  areas.  Te  estimates  that  the  per  capita 
cost  of  this  municipal  plant  will  be  about  35  cents,  as  against  54  cents 
that  we  are  paying  for  the  service  by  a  contract,  and  we  believe  that 
in  addition  the  municipal  service  will  be  a  better  service  than  the 
contract  service.  The  total  estimated  cost  of  the  installation,  in- 
cluding buildino-s.  reduction  plant,  and  collectino-  equijmient.  will  be 
something  like  SSOO.OOO.  of  which  we  ask  $300,000  in  this  bill. 

Senator  Gallixger.  $885,000  is  the  figure  given  liere. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.  $885,000.  The  reason  why  we  think  it  is  advis- 
able to  get  an  initial  appropriation  at  this  time  is  that  the  present 
garbage-reduction  contract  extends  oA-er  a  period  of  three  years  and 
expires  in  1918.  June  30.  If  this  appropriation  is  made  it  will  give 
us  only  two  years  to  install  our  own  reduction  plant,  and  it  could 
hardly  be  done  in  a  less  period  of  time:  so  that  if  we  fail  to  get 
authority  for  this  plant  this  year,  it  means  that  at  the  expiration  of 
this  contract  in  1918  a  new  contract  Avill  have  to  be  made,  and  it 
can  not  be  made  on  advantageous  terms  for  a  less  period  than  three 
years.  In  fact,  if  it  is  to  be  done  by  contract  it  ought  to  be  for  a 
longer  period,  because  the  contractor  nmst  neces-arily  absorb  in 
his  price  the  initial  cost  of  his  i:)lant.  He  has  no  assurance  that  his 
contract  will  be  renewed.  It  has  been  intimated  that  the  present 
contractor  may  not  bid  at  the  expiration  of  his  contract,  and  if 
a  new  man  comes  in  he  will  include  in  his  price,  necessarily,  the  cost 
of  such  plant  as  he  may  require. 

Senator  Lea.  What  will  be  the  cost  of  operating  this  plant  if  it  is 
constructed  i 

Col.  Kftz.  I  have  just  sent  for  the  report.  I  can  tell  you  in 
general  terms  that  if  the  i^resent  ap]:)ropriation  is  continued  we  will 
be  able  to  operate  this  plant  and  amortize  the  value  of  the  new  plant 
in  from  15  to  20  years,  without  any  increa>e  in  the  annual  appro- 
priation. 

Senator  Gallixger.  "What  is  the  amount  of  the  present  contract? 

Col.  Krxz.  The  total  is  $188,000  for  that  service. 

Senator  Gallixger.  If  you  got  an  appropriation  for  the  sewage- 
disposal  plant  and  the  other  one  also,  would  the  ])urpoFe  be  to  go  on 
and  establish  both  of  them  at  once,  or  in  coniunctic.n  c  no  with  the 
other  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo.  sir:  they  would  have  no  relation  to  oach  other. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  meant  the  construction  and  the  o])erating. 

Col.  KuTz.  It  is  the  expectation  that  the  garbage-disposal  plant 
will  be  built  first.  We  Avould  like  to  build  that  in  the  next  two 
years. 

Senator  Gallixger,  Did  you  get  any  encouragement  from  the 
other  body  when  you  suffffested  this  to  the  committee? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  89 

Col.  Kltz.  I  think  they  are  favorably  disposed. 
Senator  Gallinger.  It  is  a  very  necessary  thing. 
Senator  Smith  of  Maryhind.  We  thonght  that  "some  years  ago. 
Senator  Gallixger.  Yes:  and  it  grows  year  by  year.' 
Senator  Lea.  That  was  not  the  attitude  of  the  House  committee 
last  year,  as  I  understand  it.    They  were  rather  unfriendly  to  it. 
Senator  Gallinger.  I  think  we  understand  that. 

PARKING    COMMISSIOX. 

Col.  KuTz.  On  the  top  of  page  Si  the  commissioners  estimated 
for  $60,000  for  the  parking  commission  as  against  $45,000  appro- 
priated and  available  this  year.  The  House  allowed  $50,000.  The 
principal  work  of  the  ])arking  commission  is  in  the  care  of  the 
trees  of  the  District  of  ColumlDia,  of  which  there  are  over  100,000, 
and  in  the  replacement  annually  of  about  2,000  trees.  Some  of  the 
trees  planted  a  number  of  years  ago,  the  Carolina  poplars  and  the 
sugar  maples,  are  not  doing  well,  and  must  gradually  l)e  replaced 
by  hardier  and  more  permanent  trees.  In  connection  with  this  re- 
planting and  with  the  necessary  spraying  which  we  must  do  several 
times  a  year,  we  find  we  have  very  little  left  for  the  trimming  of 
the  trees.  A  great  many  of  the  trees  ought  to  be  cared  for  in  that 
manner,  and  we  are  very  anxious  to  go  ahead  on  a  larger  scale  in 
connection  with  our  tree  planting  work.  We  believe  that  trees  are 
one  of  the  big  assets  of  the  District,  and  should  not  be  allowed  to 
lag  behind. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  has  seemed  to  me  that  the  trees  of  Wash- 
ington were  never  so  thriving  and  beautiful  as  they  have  been  this 
year.  I  may  be  wrong  about  it.  It  looks  to  me  as  if  they  could 
not  well  be  improved  upon. 

Col.  KuTz.  We  have  a  great  many  demands  for  trees  in  suburbs 
that  we  are  unable  to  meet,  and  we  want  to  provide  for  the  future. 
It  takes  years  for  the  young  trees  to  mature. 

Senator  Gallimger.  You  have  nurseries,  do  you  not? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes:  we  have  our  own  nurseries.  We  do  not  buy  any 
trees  at  all.  I  think  that  the  District  is  very  fortunate  in  having  a 
man  at  the  head  of  that  commission  who  is  not  only  experienced 
but  devoted  to  the  service,  and  he  has  been  very  successful  with  the 
trees. 

Senator  Galltxger.  Y'es. 

Col.  KuTz.  If  there  is  no  objection  I  will  be  glad  to  insert  in  the 
record  the  commissioners'  report  relative  to  the  collection  of  garbage 
and  ashes. 

Senator  Lea.  Do  you  think  it  is  necessary  to  insert  that,  as  we 
have  a  copy  of  these  hearings'? 

Col.  KuTz.  My  suggestion  was  just  to  insert  two  pages,  the  letter 
of  transmittal. 

Senator  Lea.  If  there  is  no  objection,  then,  that  will  be  done. 

Senator  Gaelixger.  Then,  of  course,  you  would  like  your  entire 
estimate  for  the  parking  commission;  but  if  you  could  not  get  that 
you  would  like  a  little  advance  over  that  what  the  House  has  al- 
lowed? 

Col.  KuTz.  Y'^es. 


90  DISTEICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPEIATIO^^    BILL,  1917. 

(TJie  report  referred  to  is  as  follows:) 

disposal  of  gakbage  in  the  district  of  columbia. 

Office  of  Commissioners  District  of  Columbia, 

WdsJiinijto)!,  February  .'/,  1916. 
Hon.  Champ  Clark, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Dear  Sir  :  The  act  of  Congress  making  appropriations  to  provide  for  the! 
expenses  of  tlie  government  of  the  District  of  Columbia  for  the  fiscal  year  end 
ing  .June  30.  1915.  and  for  other  purposes,  approved  .July  21,  1914,  contained  the 
following  item : 

"  For  the  purposes  of  investigating  and  reporting  upon  the  collection  andj 
disposal  of  garbage  and  other  city  waste  originating  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
including  the  preparation  of  plans  and  specifications  for  the  construction  of  dis- 
posal plants,  the  necessary  accessories,  and  the  employment  of  pei'sonal  services, 
and  such  other  incidental  expenses  as  may  be  necessary  to  carry  out  the  pur 
poses  of  this  appropriation.  .S7,5(»():  Froridrd,  Tliat  thissum  sliall  not  be  avail- 
able for  the  payment  of  traveling  or  subsistence  expenses." 

Under  the  authority  of  this  appropriation,  the  Commissioners  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  on  October  19,  1914.  entered  into  a  contract  with  Irwin  S.  Osborn 
of  Columbus,  Ohio,  who  is  a  recognized  expert  in  such  matters,  to  make  the 
investigation  and  report  therein  contemplated,  in  consideration  of  the  payment 
to  him  of  the  full  amount  of  the  appropriation. 

Mr.  Osborn's  report,  accompanied  by  illustrations,  plans,  and  specifications, 
was  made  to  the  commissioners  under  date  of  October  1,  1915.  and  the  connnis- 
sioners  have  the  honor  to  forward  the  report  to  you  with  the  following  com- 
ments, and  with  the  request  that  the  report  be  printed  as  a  House  document. 

It  is  believed  that  this  report  will  be  valuable  not  only  as  affecting  the  prob- 
lem of  the  collection  and  disposal  of  municipal  waste  in  the  District  of: 
Columbia,  but  will  also  be  of  interest  to  other  cities  having  similar  problems.: 
For  this  reason  it  is  requested  that  as  large  an  edition  of  the  report  as  prac-, 
ticable  be  printed  for  general  distribution. 

Municipal  wastes  accumulating  in  the  District  of  Columbia  consist  of  garbage, 
ashes,  miscellaneous  refuse,  night  soil,  and  dead  animals.  The  collection  and 
disposal  of  these  wastes  is  now  being  accomplished  by  contract,  there  beinr: 
separate  contracts  for  each  class  of  refuse.  These  contracts  expire  June  30, 
1918.  except  the  contract  for  the  collection  and  di.sposal  of  ashes,  which  expires 
June  30.  1916. 

Mr.  Osborn  has  considered  17  projects,  wliich  l)y  a  process  of  elimination  he 
reduced  to  3,  which  are  given  in  detail  in  his  report  and  designated  as 
projects  A.  B.  and  C. 

Project  A  contemplates  that  all  work  be  done  by  the  municipality.  The 
garbage  and  rubbish  to  he  collected  together;  the  other  wastes  separately,  as  at 
present,  but  with  improved  apparatus.  Disposal  of  all  waste  collected  except 
80  per  cent  of  the  ashes  and  the  larger  dead  animals  to  be  by  incineration  in 
three  destructor  plants.  Ashes  not  needed  for  ojteration  of  destructor  plants  t ) 
be  used  for  filling  low  ground.  Larger  dead  animals  to  be  disposed  of  in  private 
plant  or  by  incineration. 

Project  B  likewise  contemplates  that  all  work  be  done  by  the  municipality. 
All  wastes  to  be  collected  separately,  as  at  present,  but  with  improved  ap- 
paratus. The  garbage  and  dead  animals  to  be  reclaimed  as  grease  and  fertilizer 
in  reduction  works.  The  rubbish  to  be  sorted  for  salable  materials  and  the  resi- 
due liurneil  in  a  utilization  and  incinei-ation  plant.  The  aslies  to  be  used  for  fill- 
ing low  ground.  The  night  soil  to  be  sterilized  and  (lisi)osi>d  of  by  contract  until 
such  time  as  the  regular  sewage-(lisi)osal  system  can  dispose  of  this  material. 

Project  C  provides  ]>racti("illy  the  same  ti'eatnient  of  the  wastes  as  jn-ojcct  B, 
but  by  contract  rather  than  muiiiciiial  oiieration.  This  i)i'oject  differs  from  the 
system  now  in  operation  only  in  tliat  modern  t'(|uipuH'iit  and  improved  apparatus 
is  considered. 

Mr.  Osborn  recommei'.ds  the  adoi)tion  of  project  li.  T'nder  this  project  he 
estimates  the  capital  cost  of  .$885,900;  the  total  annual  cost  of  collection  and 
disposal  of  all  classes  of  refuse  at  $438,880,  including  collection  cost,  disposal 
co.st.  an  allowance  of  3*  per  cent  on  the  capital  cost,  and  an  allowance  for 
depreciation  ;  the  annual  revenue  from  utilization  of  by-products  and  reclaimed 
material  at  .$301,172 ;  making  a  net  annual  cost  of  .$137,658,  or  an  annual  per 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  91 

capita  cost,  based  on  an  estimated  pupulatiou  of  412,000  for  the  year  1925, 
of  33.4  cents. 

The  estimate  foi-  project  A  shows  a  capital  cost  of  .$833,200  and  a  net  annual 
cost  of  .$280,306.  wliicli'.  at  an  estimated  popuUition  of  412.000  in  1925,  g;ives  a 
per  capita  cost  of  68  cents.  Project  C  shows  an  estimated  capital  cost  <>f  .$544,700 
and  a  net  annual  cost  of  .*=;21 8.973.  or  .53  cents  per  capita.  The  present  per  capita 
cost  is  53  cents,  based  on  the  estimated  present  population  of  359,000. 

The  commissioners  concur  in  the  conclusion  reached  by  Mr.  Osborn,  that  it 
would  be  advisable  for  the  municipality  to  collect  and  dispose  of  all  municipal 
wastes  as  described  under  project  B,  and  in  their  estimates  to  Congress  for  the 
fiscal  year  1917  they  liave  included  an  item  providing  for  the  adoption  of  this 
project  at  a  total  estimated  capital  cost  of  $885,900  and  an  appropriation  of 
$300,000  to  be  available  for  construction  during  that  fiscal  year.  This  will  leav« 
an  estimated  balance  of  .$585,900  to  be  made  available  for  construction  in  the 
fi.scal  year  1918. 

^Ir.  Osborn  states  in  his  report  that  it  will  require  two  years  for  the  construc- 
tion of  the  contemplated  disposal  plants,  so  that  the  initial  appropriation  re- 
quested for  construction  will  have  to  be  made  for  the  fiscal  year  1917  if  the 
municipality  is  to  take  over  the  work  when  the  present  contracts  expire  on  June 
30.  1918.  if  the  plants  are  not  completed  before  this  date,  new  contracts  will 
have  to  be  made  which,  if  entered  into  for  economical  periods,  will  delay  the 
adoption  of  the  recommended  project  for  three  or  five  years  longer. 

The  estimates  for  the  fiscal  year  1917  al.so  include  an  item  of  $191,620  to  cover 
the  cost  of  collection  and  disposal  of  municipal  refuse  by  contract  during  that 
year.  A  like  amount  will  have  to  be  provided  for  the  fiscal  year  1918  to  cover 
the  same  items.  For  the  fiscal  years  considered  in  the  report,  the  average  esti- 
mated amount  for  municipal  operation,  as  contemplated  under  project  B,  will  be 
$137,658.  ~My.  Osborn  points  out  the  effect  of  this  saving  in  his  recommendation 
of  project  B,  as  follows : 

"  The  net  annual  cost  to  the  District  in  1925.  as  estimated  for  the  recom- 
mended projects,  amounts  to  $137,658.  including  interest  and  depreciation.  The 
amount  required  to  collect  and  dispose  of  municipal  waste  by  present  contract.? 
is  $191,620  per  year.  Assuming  that  the  cost  by  contract  under  present  condi- 
tions will  not  increase,  there  would  be  a  saving  of  $.53,962  per  year  if  the  work 
was  done  by  the  District  at  the  estimated  cost  for  1925.  If  this  amount  was  set 
aside  as  a  sinking  fund  each  year  with  interest  at  3^  per  cent,  it  would  only 
require  approximately  13  years  to  amortize  the  total  capital  investment  of 
$885,900,  so  that  after  this  period  not  only  would  the  capital  investment  be  paid 
off  but  the  District  would  own  the  plants  in  practically  as  good  condition  as 
when  new." 

Respectfully, 

Board  of  Commissioners  District  of  Cotx-mbia, 
By  O.  P.  Newman,  President. 

Senator  Lea.  What  is  the  next  item? 

BATHING  BEACH. 

Commissioner  XEw:\rAx.  The  next  item  is  the  bathing  beach.  There 
are  two  points  only  that  I  would  like  to  make  in  that  department. 
We  have  made  an  estimate  for  two  watchmen,  instead  of  one.  and 
the  House  committee  inserted  the  two.  but  the  extra  one  that  we  asked 
for  was  stricken  out  in  the  Hou.se  on  the  floor  on  a  point  of  order. 
We  would  like  to  have  that  restored.  It  is  necessary  to  have  two 
watchmen  there — one  for  the  daytime  and  one  for  the  night — 12 
months  in  the  year;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  do  have  two.  but  one 
of  them  is  paid  on  a  per  diem  basis  and,  of  course,  does  not  get  any 
leave  unless  he  takes  it  Avithout  pay,  and  we  feel  that  those  positions 
are  just  as  essential  as  those  of  watchmen  for  buildings  anywhere. 
There  is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  both  be  paid  annual  salaries. 

We  estimated  also  an  increase  for  this  watchman  from  $480  to  $600 
per  annum.  For  tAvo  or  three  years  we  have  been  endeavoring  to  have 
$600  as  the  minimum  for  annual  salaried  positions. 


92  DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL^  1917. 

Senator  Gallinger.  How  much  of  their  time  do  they  give? 

Commissioner  Newmax.  All  the  time. 

Senator  Gallinger.  All  their  time? 

Commissioner  Neavman.  Yes;  all  the  year  round:  every  day. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  is  little  enough,  $600. 

PLAYGROUNDS. 

Commissioner  Newman.  The  next  item  is  the  playgrounds  depart- 
ment. The  case  of  the  playgrounds  department  I  think  was 
thoroughh^  covered  in  the  House  hearings.  There  is  nothing  in  ad- 
dition to  what  was  presented  in  the  hearings  there  that  I  care  to 
present,  unless  you  care  to  have  me. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  They  seem  to  have  allowed  you  more 
than  you  got  last  year. 

Commissioner  Brownloav.  We  w^ould  like  the  estimate. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes. 

Col.  KuTz.  In  connection  with  the  item  "  For  construction  of 
two  swimming  pools,  shower  baths,"  etc.,  the  estimate  is  $10,000, 
$5,000  apiece,  and  the  amount  allowed  was  $7,500.  Last  year  an 
a])propriation  was  made  for  three  pools  at  just  the  price  per  pool 
which  the  House  now  allows,  $8,750:  but  we  were  unable  for  that 
amount  to  build  a  pool  which  we  thought  was  suitable.  We  did 
build  them  of  the  size  we  originally  intended.  28  feet  wide  by  75  feet 
long,  but  we  were  unable  to  line  them  with  glazed  tile,  as  we  hoped 
to  do.  as  they  should  have  been,  and  we  were  compelled  to  reduce  the 
number  of  dressing  rooms  by  one-half,  and  otherwise  cut  off  facili- 
ties which  we  thought  were  essential.  This  year  we  will  not  be 
able  to  do  as  much  as  Ave  Avere  able  to  do  last  year,  for  the  reason  that 
cement  has  increased  33  per  cent  in  A'alue:  the  price  of  reinforced 
steel.  I  tliink,  has  increased  50  per  cent,  so  that  Ave  could  not  build 
a  satisfactory  j)ool  Avith  the  amount  alloAved,  $3,750. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Ten  thousand  dollars  Avould  alloAv  you  to 
properh'  construct  them,  would  it? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes;  I  think  so. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Has  the  House  yielded  the  contention  for 
which  they  haA^e  been  so  insistent  of  late  A^ears.  that  the  appropria- 
tions for  plavo-i'ounds  should  be  taken  wholh"  from  the  re  Avenue  of 
the  District  of  Columbia? 

Senator  Lea.  I  think.  Senator,  that  that  is  answered  by  the  first 
paragraph  in  the  bill.  If  the  House  is  insistent  in  regard  to  the 
first  ])aragraDh,  it  Avould  be  equally  insistent  in  regard  to  this. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes;  I  see  that. 

PUBLIC    convenience    STATIONS. 

Col.  KuTz.  We  asked  for  three  public  coiiA^enience  statior^s.  The 
three  stations  avo  uoav  have  demonstrate  their  usefulness  everv  month 
in  the  year  ])y  tlie  nunil)er  of  Dcojde  that  use  them,  and  Ave  feel  that 
that  is  a  form  of  service  Avhich  should  be  increased.  We  selected 
three  sites  as  being  the  most  im]:>ortant  of  a  dozen  that  liaA'e  been 
recommended  to  the  commissioners.  One  is  at  Ninth  and  F,  another 
at  Wisconsin  AA'enue  and  M,  and  another  at  Fifteenth  and  NeAV 
York  AA^enue.    The  first  site  Avas  just  adjoining  the  the  building  of 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  93 

the  Department  of  the  Interior.  We  took  the  nuitter  up  with  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  he  objected  to  the  site  selected  by  the 
commissioners  and  embodied  in  their  report  and  suggested  a  site 
about  a  block  and  a  half  away,  on  Eighth  Street  just  below  F.  The 
commissioners  looked  into  that  site  and  found  that  while,  in  their 
opinion,  it  was  not  quite  as  convenient  for  the  public  as  the  one 
suggested,  it  would  still  meet  a  very  pressing  need;  so  that  we  will 
suggest,  if  the  committee  sees  fit  to  appropriate  for  a  convenience 
station  in  that  part  of  the  city,  they  specify  Eighth  and  F  Streets 
instead  of  Ninth  and  F  Streets.  It  really  ought  to  be  at  Ninth  and 
F  Streets. 

Senator  Gallixger,  I  went  all  through  the  Ninth  and  F  Street 
proposition  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Patents  and  could  not  reach  any  conclusion.  They  ob- 
jected to  it.  We  provided  last  year  for  a  station  at  White  House 
Station.     Is  that  being  built? 

Col.  KuTz.  It  is  not  started  3^et.  We  approved  the  plans,  and  we 
are  now  in  correspondence  with  the  Chief  of  Engineers.  We  will 
have  to  encroach  on  parking  space  slightly,  and  we  have  to  get  his 
consent. 

Senator  Gallinger.  The  appropriation  named  for  that  was  less 
than  the  amount  named  for  these  others? 

Col.  KuTz.  Very  nnich  less.  It  will  be  a  very  small  station,  above 
ground.     I  think  the  appropriation  was  $5,000. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes;  I  remember  several  gentlemen  with 
whom  we  conferred  thought  $5,000  was  enough. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  It  was  a  serious  question  whether  we 
should  attempt  to  build  it  at  all. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  is  a  congested  spot  down  there. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  W^e  need  a  station  there,  of  course. 

Col.  KuTz.  I  would  like  to  say  that  the  station  at  Fifteenth  Street 
and  New  York  Avenue  we  planned  to  locate  on  the  west  side  of 
Fifteenth  Street,  just  below  New^  York  Avenue.  The  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  made  objection  to  that  in  the  same  manner  that  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior  objected  to  the  one  at  Ninth  and  F  Streets, 
and  we  canvassed  the  other  sites,  and  there  is  another  in  the  vicinity, 
on  Fifteenth  above  New  York  Avenue,  that  I  think  will  serve  the 
purpose  almost  as  well  and  get  rid  of  that  objection.  The  language 
would  not  have  to  be  changed  here,  because  it  is  sufficiently  broad  to 
cover  any  site  in  that  vicinity. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  you  w'ill 
find  it  very  difficult  to  get  an  appropriation  of  $25,000  for  such  a 
station  in  Washington,  in  view  of  the  attitude  certain  gentlemen 
have  assumed  heretofore. 

Col.  KuTz.  Of  course  on  those  two  sites  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
build  any  but  an  underground  station,  and  when  you  begin  to  go 
underground  it  does  cost  money. 

Connnissioner  Newmax.  They  certainly  are  very  badly  n'^eded  at 
those  two  i)oints. 

Senator  (tallixger.  Very  badly.  Wisconsin  Avenue  and  M  Street 
is  about  where  the  two  roads  cross,  there? 

Commissioner  Newmax.  It  is  where  the  Wisconsin  Avenue  car 
goes  into  M  Street,  in  Georgetown. 


94  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPEIATIOX    BILL^  1917. 

ELECTRICAL    DEPARTMENT. 

Col.  KuTz.  In  referring  yesterday  to  the  salaries  in  general  in  the 
engineer  department.  I  called  attention  to  the  two  heads  of  depart- 
ments whose  salaries  I  thought  should  be  increased.  One  was  the 
superintendent  of  street  cleaning,  and  the  other  the  electrical  engi- 
neer, both  of  whom  now  receive  $2,500.  and  the  commissioners  think 
that  a  So.OOO  salary  is  warranted  by  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of 
the  two  positions. 

Senator  Gallinger.  The  House  allowed  you  S3.000,  or  did  that 
go  out  ? 

Senator  Lea.  It  went  out  on  the  point  of  order. 

Col.  KuTz.  I  should  like  to  say  that  last  year  the  Senate  committee 
allowed  the  increase,  and  the  House  committee  did  not;  and  this  year 
the  House  committee  authorized  it.  but  it  went  out  on  the  point  of 
order. 

Senator  Curtis.  On  the  floor  ^ 

Col.  KuTz.  On  the  floor.  There  is  a  small  item  on  page  36,  line  6, 
*'  Cable  splicer,  $1."200."  I  ask  that  designation  be  changed  to 
''  assistant  electrician,"  because  the  term  "■  cable  splicer ''  does  not 
properly  designate  his  duties.  He  is  capable  of  splicing  cable,  but 
that  is  so  small  a  part  of  his  work  that  we  would  like  a  different  p 
designation. 

Senator  Gallixger.  You  Avant  him  called  an  assistant  electrician  ( 

Col.  KuTz.   Yes,  sir. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  In  line  24.  page  36.  our  estimate  was 
for  $4,000  for  the  extension  and  relocation  of  the  police  patrol  sys- 
tem, "■•  including  purchase  of  new  boxes,  purchase  and  erection  of 
necessary  poles,  cross  arms,  insulators,  pins,  braces,  wire,  cable,  con- 
duit connections,  extra  labor,  and  other  necessary  items."  We  are 
very  desirous  of  extending  that  more  rapidlj'. 

LIGHTING. 

The  House  did  allow  in  the  next  item,  beginning  on  line  24.  page 
o7.  the  extension  of  the  telephone  system  for  the  ninth  precinct,  but 
we  do  not  think  that  $1,200  is  enough  for  the  extension  of  the  system 
in  a  year. 

The  fact  that  we  have  had  too  little  in  several  years  means  that  we 
are  behind,  and  we  would  like  to  have  that  $4,000. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  That  is  yearly,  is  it  not  ( 

Commissioner  Brownloa\'.  Yearly  ( 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Would  it  require  that  nnich  yearly? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Xo.  sir;  we  are  behind  now. 

Senator  Ci  rtis.  How  much  are  3'ou  behind  ? 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  I  do  not  know:  but  that  estimate  was 
based  on  a  desire  to  catch  up  Avith  the  demand. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Here  under  the  head  of  "  Wiihting  " 
you  asked  for  $414,000.    they  allowed  you  $400,000. 

Col.  KuTz.  An  increase  of' $19,000  over  the  present  appropriation. 

Senator  S^rrrn  of  Maryland.  Thev  have  allowed  vou  an  increase  of 
$5,000? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir.  The  commissioners  are  desirous  not  only  of 
meeting  the  demand  for  lights  in  residence  parts  of  the  city,  but  also 


DISTKICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPEIATIOjST    BILL,  1917.  95 

to  gradually  extend  the  incandescent  system  of  illumination  on  orna- 
mental posts  which  we  have  now  partially  installed.  That  work  has 
been  going'  on  for  a  number  of  years:  but  there  is  a  great  deal  of  it 
yet  to  be  done,  and  the  program  which  we  have  laid  out  for  the  next 
year  is,  we  think,  a  very  modest  one.  It  only  involves  the  expendi- 
ture of  $10,000  or  $11,000,  and  the  balance  we  felt  was  needed  for 
actual  extensions  on  streets  and  alleys  that  are  not  adequately  lighted 
at  the  present  time.  I  imagine  that  there  is  not  a  day  passes  that  we 
do  not  get  three  or  four,  and  sometimes  as  many  as  half  a  dozen,  re- 
[juests  for  additional  street  lights  in  diU'erent  parts  of  the  city,  mostly 
in  the  .suburbs,  but  numy  of  them  in  alleys  that  are  being  more  and 
more  used  for  garage  purposes,  and  where  more  lights  are  needed 
than  in  alleys  without  garages. 

Senator  ^)ILLr^■(i^AM.  Is  attention  being  paid,  in  the  placing  of 
these  lights,  to  putting  them  so  as  to  illuminate  the  street  signs  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  Those  that  are  placed  on  the  four  sides  of  the  globes, 
I  think,  show  up  pretty  well.  We  adopted  a  type  of  blue  glass  for 
such  signs,  with  white  letters.  We  are  unable  to  buy  blue  glass  now 
on  account  of  the  war.  so  that  we  have  gone  back  to  the  red. 

Senator  Crinis.  I  would  like  to  say  to  the  committee  that  a  few 
weeks  ago  I  had  a  petition  from  people  living  out  on  Harvard  Street, 
where  the  new  buildings  have  been  erected  down  toward  the  park, 
and  just  to  see  what  the  situation  was  I  went  out  there,  and  they 
had  lights  down  to  the  cross  street  running  up  the  hill,  but  dow^n 
below  there  there  must  have  been  10  or  15  houses  before  which  there 
was  no  light  whatever.  There  were  the  posts  there,  but  there  were 
no  lights  and  there  were  no  lights  in  the  alle}'.  I  presented  the  peti- 
tion in  that  matter  after  investigating  it  myself.  Init  the  office  re- 
ported that  they  could  not  do  anything  because  there  was  no  money. 

Col.  KuTz:  Yes. 

Senator  Curtis.  And  it  does  seem  to  me  that  where  j^eople  are 
living  in  eveiy  house,  they  ought  to  have  lights,  and  I  am.  for  one,  in 
favor  of  increasing  this  appropriation  and  giving  them  those  lights. 

PURCHASE    OF    MOTOR    TRUCK. 

Col.  KuTz :  In  connection  w4th  the  electrical  department,  we  ask 
for  the  purchase  of  a  motor  truck  at  $2,500,  which  was  not  allowed 
by  the  House.  When  the  question  of  transportation  came  u])  in  con- 
nection with  the  preparation  of  the  estimates,  I  had  one  of  my  as- 
sistants look  into  every  request  made  by  the  head  of  a  department  for 
additional  transportation,  whether  it  was  truck  transportation  or 
passenger  transportation,  to  determine  whether  the  need  was  a  real 
one  or  whether  it  just  represented  the  personal  views  of  the  head  of 
that  department;  and  by  canvassing  the  requests  of  all  the  depart- 
ments, we  reached  a  conclusion  that  covers  the  purchase  of  only  about 
one  out  of  three  vehicles  that  had  been  requested,  and  this  was  one 
thought  to  be  necessary. 

I  should  like  to  renew  the  reconnnendation  that  this  be  purchased. 
It  is  to  replace  the  present  large  field  wagon,  and  a  horse-drawn  cable 
truck  witli  the  two  horses  now  used  with  them.  These  vehicles  are 
used  to  transport  the  heavy  line  construction  material  for  fire-alarm 
and  police-patrol  work  as  well  as  for  the  cable  work  of  the  under- 
ground division. 


96  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPKIATIOX    BILL^  1917. 

Senator  Lea.  Tell  us  about  the  item  of  removal  of  poles  and  ov 
head  wires?     What  is  the  distance  that  you  are  requiring  them  to  b 
remoAed  i  ; 

Col.  KuTz.  I  think  it  is  al^out  a  mile  in  length.  It  is  merely  onj 
step  toward  the  gradual  elimination  of  overhead  wires  in  the  builtj 
up  portion  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  They  have  been  remove(] 
from  the  central  part  of  the  city,  and  now  we  thought  that  the  tim'. 
had  come  when  this  section  of  Georgia  Avenue  from  Florida  Avenu- 
north  to  Rock  Creek  Church  Road  should  be  changed. 

Senator  Lea.  What  will  be  the  cost  of  the  accomplishment  of  that 

Col.  KuTz.  It  is  going  to  be  an  expensive  proposition.  The  engi 
neer  of  the  company  told  me  that  it  would  cost  about  $200,000. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  the  company  making  money? 

Col.  KuTz.  We  are  just  approaching  the  end  of  our  valuation,  anc! 
are  about  to  hold  a  hearing  with  reference  to.  that  valuation.  I  d( 
not  know  that  I  can  answer  that  question,  as  to  whether  they  ary 
making  money  or  not.    They  are  paying  dividends. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Will  you  know  later  on? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir.  i3ut  under  the  system  of  regulation  the  com 
pany  is  going  to  be  entitled  to  earn  a  fair  return  on  the  propertj 
used  and  useful  in  the  service  rendered,  so  that  if  we  authorize  tht 
placing  of  these  wires  underground,  and  that  necessitates  an  invest 
ment  on  its  part  of  $100,000  or  $200,000.  the  Public  Utilities  Com 
mission  will  be  compelled  to  regard  that  as  a  proper  capital  expensej 
on  which  the  company  is  allowed  to  earn  a  fair  return. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Would  it  not  be  well  to  wait  until||i 
after  the  investigation  to  find  out  the  financial  status  of  the  com-; 
pany  and  to  what  extent  they  shall  be  taxed,  etc.  I  do  not  speal- 
knowingly:  I  know  nothing  about  it.  I  am  only  asking  this  ques 
tion  whether  or  not  this  investigation  would  not  put  you  in  a  better 
position  to  know  whether  it  would  be  a  proper  tax  upon  them  or  not, 

Col.  KrTz.  I  do  not  regard  it.  Senator,  as  a  tax. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^laryland.  Because  you  are  going  to  make  th 
people  pay  for  it  I 

Col.  KuTz.  The  people  will  have  to  pay  interest  on  that  invest-j 
ment.  That  is  certainly  a  legitimate  capital  investment,  and  i" 
there  is  anything  to  the  theory  of  regulation  the  company  will  be 
entitled  to  earn  a  fair  return  on  money  expended  for  such  purpose; 
as  this,  so  that  it  seems  to  me  whatever  the  condition  of  the  com 
pany  that  we  find  now  it  Avill  have  no  influence  on  questions  of  this 
kind.  It  is  simply  a  question  of  whether  the  people  want  to  assume 
this  added  burden. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  There  are  many  cities,  however,  that 
have  these  overhead  wires  yet — large  cities? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  only  question  is  whether  you 
want  to  tax  the  people  of  the  city  to  pay  additional  fare  in  order 
to  have  these  new  methods. 

Senator  I)illixoha:m.  They  can  not  pay  additional  fare  under 
existing  laAv  because  the  fare  is  fixed. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^laryland.  How  are  you  going  to  get  it  out  of 
the  people,  then  { 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  was  going  to  ask  that  question. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL.  1917.  97 

Col.  KuTz.  I  think  the  Public  Utilities  Commission  has  the  right 
to  fix  rates. 

Senator  (tallinger.  Yes.  but  you  Avill  never  fix  it;  you  know  that, 
do  you  not?  Yon  will  never  take  the  responsibility  of  saying  that 
they  should  get  a  5-cent  fare  ? 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  tendency  now  is  to  decrease 
railway  fares. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.  1  do  not  know  that  this  will  necessitate  any 
increase  in  the  fare.  It  may  be  that  our  valuation  will  show  that 
the  present  fare  is  right. 

Senator  (tallixgek.  I  do  not  know  how  the  Brightwood  Railway 
Co.  is  doing  now.  but  for  a  number  of  years  the  Brightwood  Railway 
Co.  did  not  begin  to  pay  expenses.  It  was  consolidated  with  these 
other  companies  and  ])erhaps  noAv  it  is  doing  better. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  do  not  want  to  be  understood  as 
opposing  this  thing  in  any  way,  but  it  strikes  me  it  would  be  well 
to  find  out  the  financial  responsibility  of  the  company  before  making 
a  change  of  this  kind  which  requires  a  great  deal  of  money.  I  do 
not  say  it  ought  not  to  be  done,  but  as  to  getting  it  out  of  the  people 
by  increased  fares  I  do  not  think  you  Avill  find  that  a  very  likely 
possibility. 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo ;  I  think  the  people  would  rather  have  the  overhead 
trolley. 

Senator  Lea.  Has  there  been  a  great  demand  on  that? 

Col.  KuTZ.  It  has  been  requested  by  the  citizens'  association  of 
that  vicinity.  There  is  not  a  universal  demand  throughout  the  city, 
but  only  a  local  demand  from  the  people  who  live  there,  and  the 
Park  View  Citizens'  Association. 

Senator  Lea.  "What  is  the  character  of  the  improvement  of  this 
part  of  Georgia  Avenue? 

Col.  KuTz.  It  is  not  very  high  class.  The  upper  end  of  it  is  pretty 
well  built  up,  but  the  lower  end  of  it  is  rather  poorly  built  up. 

ROCK   CREEK  PARK. 

Col.  KuTZ.  At  the  bottom  of  page  38  we  asked  'for  $25,000  for 
Rock  Creek  Park.  We  had  $18,000  last  year.  The  House  gave  us 
$2,000  more.  The  $18,000  that  we  have  been  getting  has  ])een  just 
about  enough  to  maintain  the  existing  roads  and  trails  and  existing 
conditions,  without  permitting  any  increased  development.  We  feel 
that  the  upper  end  of  the  park  ought  to  be  opened  up  by  the  con- 
struction of  additional  roads  and  made  more  accessible  to  the  public, 
and  it  was  with  that  in  view  that  we  asked  for  an  increase  of  $7,000 
m  the  appropriation  this  year,  not  with  the  expectation  that  that 
would  be  an  annual  requirement  but  that  it  would  be  justified  at  this 
time  to  permit  some  extension  of  roadways  through  the  park. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  is  pretty  hard  to  get  it  down, 
though,  you  know.  If  you  put  it  there  it  will  be  considered  as  annual, 
will  it  not? 

Col.  KuTZ.  Even  if  it  is  not  reduced,  I  believe  that  $25,000  an- 
nually expended  on  Rock  Creek  Park  is  a  very  good  investment. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Xoav,  we  are  coming  to  schools? 

4.5737—16 7 


98  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  I  think  we  had  better  pass  over  tlie 
matter  of  schools  until  we  can  have  the  president  of  the  board  of  edu- 
cation here. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Very  well.  "We  want  the  president 
of  the  board  of.  education  here. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  On  page  47.  under  the  head  of 
"  Schools,"  is  the  next  item. 

REPAIRS   AND   IMPROVEMENTS   OF    SCHOOL   BUILDINGS. 

Col.  KuTz.  The  commissioners  are  charged  with  the  construction 
of  schools  and  the  maintenance,  repair,  and  improvement  of  school 
buildings,  so  that  we  are  very  much  interested  in  this  item.  Ijeginning 
at  line  10.  page  47,  for  repairs  and  improvements  of  school  buildings. 
The  appropriation  that  we  have  had  this  last  vear  was  $100,000.  We 
asked  for  $150,000.    The  House  authorized  $ilO,000. 

Our  school  buildings  are  not  only  3'early  increasing  in  numbers, 
but  many  of  the  old  ones  are  requiring  a  greater  amount  of  repairs 
each  year,  and  with  the  $100,000  we  have  had  we  have  not  been  able 
to  keep  the  buildings  in  anything  like  the  condition  that  they  should 
be  in.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  I  called  on  the  school  authori- 
ties for  a  list  of  repairs  to  all  the  existing  buildings  that  they  thought 
were  essential.  The  repairs  they  recommended  were  largely  interior 
repairs — repairs  that  affected  their  comfort  and  convenience. 

Then  I  had  the  superintendent  of  repairs  make  estimates  of  re- 
pairs to  heating  plants  and  to  the  roofs  and  down  spouts — external 
repairs,  you  might  call  them — and  the  sum  total  of  the  two  classes 
of  repairs  amounted  to  $180,000.  Man.v  items  were  necessarily 
omitted  in  order  to  keep  within  the  $100,000.  The  total  value  of  all 
the  school  buildings  is  about  $15,000,000,  so  that  $150,000  annually 
represents  1  per  cent  of  the  value  for  upkeep  and  improvement,  and 
I  think  that  about  that  amount  is  necessaiy. 

BUILDINGS    AND    GROUNDS. 

On  page  50,  line  21,  in  connection  with  the  authority  to  use  the 
unexpended  balance  in  connection  with  the  Eastern  High  School 
site,  we  would  like  to  have  authority  to  close  all  the  public  streets 
and  alleys  included  within  the  site  acquired  for  the  Eastern  High 
School,  bounded  b}'  East  Capitol  Street,  B  Street,  Seventeenth 
Street,  and  Nineteenth  Street  XE.,  when  the  title  to  all  the  land 
included  within  the  site  has  been  acquired  for  said  purpose. 

That  site  is  being  acquired  by  the  commissioners  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  board  of  education.  About  90  per  cent  of  the 
entire  area  in  the  four  blocks  is  being  purchased  by  agreement  with 
the  owners.  There  will  be  about  10  per  cent  of  it,  or  possibly  15  per 
cent,  that  will  have  to  be  condemned,  and  this  is  a  re(|uest  that  when 
it  is  all  acquired  we  be  permitted  to  close  the  streets  within  tfie  area 
purchased.  It  will  cause  absolutely  no  inconvenience  to  the  traveling 
public  and  is  essential  to  a  proper  placing  of  the  public-school  build- 
ings on  the  area  acquired. 


DISIIUCT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPKIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  99 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  requires  legislation  to  close  the  streets  in 
the  area  purchased  for  school  buildings  and  devoted  to  school  pur- 
poses ? 

Col  KuTz.  That  is  Avhat  our  corporation  counsel  tells  us;  yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Have  j'ou  submitted  an  amendment? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes. 

Senator  Curtis.  Is  that  true  where  you  purchase  the  ground  on 
both  sides — that  you  must  have  legislation  ? 

Commissioner  JBrownlow.  Yes. 

Col.  KuTz.  It  was  dedicated  or  acquired  for  that  particular  pur- 
pose. 

Senator  Curtis.  Have  you  any  general  authorit}^  under  the  laws 
to  issue  an  order  closing  a  street  or  alley? 

Col.  KuTz.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  have  no  general  authority  or  power? 

Col.  KuTz.  No,  sir.  We  can  close  alleys,  under  certain  conditions, 
with  the  consent  of  all  the  abutting  owners.  I  do  not  wish  to  say 
anything  about  the  new  schools  which  the  board  of  education  thinks 
should  be  provided  for,  but  I  should  like  to  say  something  about  the 
fiinounts  set  aside  for  the  new  buildings  which  the  House  did  author- 
ize. This  is  on  page  50,  line  12.  The  House  authorized  $80,000,  and 
the  estimate  of  the  municipal  architect,  based  on  present  conditions, 
is  $88,000.  I  put  in  the  estimate  last  fall  of  $80,000,  but  it  is  inade- 
quate under  present  conditions,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  we  can 
build  a  building  of  the  same  class  as  those  Ave  have  been  building  for 
the  sum  estimated. 

Senator  Smith  of  IVIaiyland.  This  is  $80,000,  according  to  the  esti- 
mates you  then  made  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  It  was  according  to  the  estimates  which  the  commis- 
sioners made  last  fall;  but  it  does  not  agree  with  the  revised  esti- 
mates prepared  hj  the  municipal  architect. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Have  3^011  set  out  your  revised  esti- 
mate ?     Did  you  state  it  to  the  House  committee  ? 

Col.  Kutz.  Yes ;  but  they  did  not  adopt  them. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marvland.  But  the  revised  estimate  calls  for 
$88,000. 

Col.  Kutz.  The  revised  estimate  calls  for  $88,000  for  that  first  item 
and  $80,000  for  the  next  item,  an  addition  of  $8,000  to  each  one  of 
them. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  the  change  in  the  amount  of  the 
estimate  owing  to  any  advance  in  prices,  or  what  is  it  due  to? 

Col.  Kutz.  It  is  owing  to  an  advance  of  prices. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  An  advance  in  the  prices  of  mate- 
rials? 

Col.  Kutz.  Yes;  and  based  on  bids  that  we  have  received  for  build- 
ings since  the  original  estimates  were  prepared.  We  opened  bids  for 
the  addition  to  the  Powell  School,  and  they  were  so  high  that  we  had 
to  come  and  secure  a  deficiency  appropriation  at  the  present  session 
of  Congress.  With  those  bids  before  us,  we  feel  certain  that  we  will 
need  this  increased  amount. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  asked  for  an  appropriation  toward  the 
construction  of  the  Eastern  High  School,  and  the  House  did  not 
allow  that,  did  they  ? 


100  DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Col.  KuTz.  The  House  authorized 

Senator  Gallinger.  The  use  of  the  unexpended  bahmce? 

Coh  KuTz.  In  a  school  of  that  size  I  believe  it  will  take  the  better 
part  of  a  year  to  prepare  the  plans,  and  the  money  available  will  be 
sufficient  for  the  preparation  of  the  plans. 

Commissioner  Bkownlow.  And  this  authorizes  the  making  of  a 
contract,  so  that  that  is  sufficient. 

Col.  KuTz.  We  asked  for  $750,000.  and  the  House  gave  us  $700,000. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  notice  in  the  case  of  the  Elizabeth  V.  Brown 
School  and  the  addition  to  the  Petworth  School,  there  is  provision 
for  an  assembly  hall  in  each  instance.  How  large  a  hall  do  you  pro- 
pose, and  for  what  purposes,  in  the  public  schools? 

Col.  KuTz.  It  is  a  hall  that  seats  about  200  people.  I  do  not  remem- 
ber the  dimensions.  It  is  primarily  for  school  purposes.  In  many  of 
the  school  buildings  there  is  nothing  but  the  classrooms,  no  place 
where  the  school,  as  a  whole,  can  assemble.  Incidentally,  I  think  it 
is  hoped  that  they  will  be  of  service  for  community  gatherings,  but 
the  primary  purpose  of  the  hall  is  for  school  jjurposes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  think  that  schools  should 
have,  in  addition  to  the  schoolrooms,  halls  for  purposes  of  accom- 
modating people  in  any  gatherings  that  they  may  choose  to  have? 

Col.  KuTZ.  I  think  if  those  halls  were  not  needed  for  school  pur- 
poses there  would  not  be  any  reason  for  building  them;  but  my  own 
impression  about  school  matters  is  that  an  assembly  hall  in  a  build- 
ing as  large  as  a  16-room  building  is  a  very  desirable  adjunct  and  aid 
to  the  school  work.  It  is  not  customary  to  provide  them  in  smaller 
schools,  in  the  4  or  8  room  schools;  but  when  you  get  a  school  as 
large  as  a  16-room  school,  each  room  holding  35  or  40  pupils,  I  think 
an  assembly  hall  holding  200  or  300  is  very  useful. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  have  no  doubt  it  would  be  useful 
and  all  right,  provided  there  is  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  Gov- 
ernment and  the  District  of  Columbia  to  furnish  money  sufficient  for 
the  schools.  That  is  all  right  if  you  have  plenty  of  money,  but  when 
there  seems  to  be  considerable  trouble  to  get  money  for  schools  proper, 
do  you  not  think  it  might  be  an  impediment  in  the  securing  of  money 
for  school  purposes  more  essential  than  this? 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  The  school  people  were  insistent  upon 
that  as  a  very  necessary  pai't  of  the  school  plant  for  educational  pur- 
poses. I  am  sure  when  the  president  of  the  board  of  education  and 
the  superintendent  of  schools  come  before  you,  they  can  tell  you  in 
what  way  it  is  necessary.  I  do  not  see  how  they  can  get  along  with- 
out those  rooms  in  a  school  building  of  that  size. 

Col.  KuTz.  It  is  the  general  practice  in  all  communities  where  the 
school  buildings  are  as  large  as  IG  rooms  in  size  to  have  an  assembly 
room. 

Senator  Simith  of  Maryland.  I  think,  myself,  it  is  a  very  impor- 
tant adjunct  if  you  can  get  the  money. 

Col.  KuTz.  AVe  have  seen  a  great  many  plans  of  school  buildings 
in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  I  think  that  practice  is  universal. 

(At  4  oVlock  p.  m.  the  committee  adjourned  until  to-morrow, 
Friday.  June  2.  1910.  at  10.30  oVIock  a.  m.) 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  101 

FRIDAY,   JUNE   3,    1916. 

The  subcommittee  met  at  10.30  o'clock  a.  m. 

Present:  Senators  Smith  (chairman),  Lea,  Gallinger,  Dilling- 
ham, and  Curtis. 

Oliver  P.  Xewman,  president  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of 
the  District  of  Columbia ;  Louis  Brownlow,  Commissioner  of  the 
District  of  Columbia;  Lieut.  Col.  Charles  AV.  Kutz,  L'nited  States 
Ai  niY.  engineer  commissioner  of  the  District  of  Columbia ;  Daniel 
E.  Garges,  chief  clerk;  Daniel  J.  Donovan,  secretary  to  the  board 
of  commissioners;  and  Dr.  AVilliam  C.  Woodward,  health  officer  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  appeared. 

STATEMENTS  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF 

COLUMBIA— Continued. 

Senator  Smith.  We  left  off  at  page  51,  I  believe. 

COLUMBIA    IXSTITUTIOX    FOR    THE    DEAF. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  The  next  thing  that  we  care  to  sa}^  any- 
thing about,  before  the  representatives  of  the  board  of  education 
come  before  you.  is  the  item  on  page  52.  the  Columbia  Institution 
for  the  Deaf. 

Senator  Curtis.  AATiat  have  you  to  say  about  that? 

Commissioner  Xewman.  The  District  has  35  students  in  the  Co- 
lumbia Institution  for  the  Deaf.  During  the  past  year  we  have  had 
several  conferences  with  the  officials  of  that  institution  as  to  the  cost 
of  maintenance  and  instruction  of  these  students;  and  the  confer- 
ence went  so  far  as  to  include  an  examination  of  the  accounts  of 
the  institution  by  the  District  auditor  for  the  purpose  of  informing 
the  commissioners  as  to  the  expense  incurred  by  the  institution  in 
caring  for  these  children.  That,  however,  was  not  completed  at  the 
time  our  estimates  were  made;  and  the  estimate  was  for  $12,250, 
based  on  an  average  of  33  students  and  on  a  cost  allowance  to  them  of 
$375  for  each  student.  Since  this  estimate  was  made,  as  the  result  of 
further  conferences  with  them  and  further  investigations,  we  have 
become  convinced  that  the  actual  expense  is  greater  than  $375,  and 
that  they  are  justly  entitled  to  an  allowance  of  $400. 

Senator  Smith.  For  each  child? 

Commissioner  Neavmax.  For  each  child;  yes,  sir.  Also,  we  find 
that  there  are  35  instead  of  33  there,  and  the  probabilities  are  that 
there  will  continue  to  be  at  least  that  many. 

Senator  Curtis.  How  long  during  the  year  do  they  keep  those 
children — all  the  year  around? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  During  the  school  sessions;  about  0  or 
10  months. 

Senator  Curtis.  Do  they  furnish  them  with  clothing? 

Commissioner  Newmax.  It  includes  living,  tuition,  lodging,  meals, 
and  instruction. 

Senator  Curtis.  How  much  is  the  tuition? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  I  do  not  recall  the  way  in  wliich  that  $400 
is  divided.     We  have  those  figures,  and  I  can  get  theui. 

Senator  Curtis.  That  is  .surely  a  very  large  rate. 


102  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Browxloav.  The  students  are  not  all  children,  you 
know.     Many  of  them  are  adults.     This  is  a  college. 

Senator  Curtis.  The  only  difference  that  it  would  make  with 
grown  people  would  be  that  the^^  might  eat  more. 

Commissioner  Xewmax,  Of  course  it  is  bound  to  be  more  expensive 
than  an  ordinary  educational  institution. 

Senator  Curtis.  How  many  students  have  they  there,  all  told  ? 

Commissioner  Newmax'.  I  do  not  recall  that.  Senator.  I  can  get 
that  information ;  also  the  manner  in  which  this  $400  is  divided. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  The  Columbia  Institution  is  located  out 
northeast? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Yes:  at  Kendall  Green,  out  here  on 
Florida  Avenue.     AVe  are  paying  at  the  rate  of  $375  now. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  will  get  the  additional  data,  will  you? 

Commissioner  Xewmax'.  I  will.  Senator. 

[Memorandum  bj-  the  auditor  for  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Annual  appropriations  are  made  for  expenses  attending  the  instruction  of  deaf 
and  dumb  persons  admitted  to  the  Columbia  Institution  for  ttte  Deaf  from  the 
District  of  Columbia,  under  section  4864.  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  as  provided 
for  in  the  act  of  March  1,  1901,  and  under  a  contract  to  be  entered  into  with  said 
institution  by  the  commissioners. 

Section  4864  of  the  Revised  Statutes :  By  a  paragraph  under  the  caption  of 
"Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,"  it  is  provided  as  follows : 

"  Wlienever  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  satisfied,  by  evidence  produced  by 
the  president  of  the  Columbia  Institution  for  the  Instruction  of  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb,  that  any  deaf  and  dumb  person  of  teachable  age,  properly  belonging  to 
the  District  of  Columbia,  is  in  indigent  circumstances  and  can  not  command  the 
means  to  secure  an  education  it  sliall  be  his  duty  to  authorize  such  person  to 
enter  the  institution  for  instruction." 

The  act  of  March  1,  1901,  amends  the  section  above  referred  to,  reading  as 
follows : 

"  Provided.  That  hereafter  all  deaf  mutes  of  teachable  age,  of  good  mental 
capacity,  and  properly  belonging  to  the  District  of  Columbia,  shall  be  received 
and  instructed  in  said  institution,  their  admission  thereto  being  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  superintendent  of  public  schools  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  And 
said  institution  shall  not  be  regarded  nor  classified  as  an  institution  of  charity." 

The  contract  with  the  Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf,  made  for  the  fiscal 
year  ending  June  30,  1915,  entered  into  by  the  Commissioners,  provided  for  a  per 
capita  rate  of  if3T5  per  school  year.  When  the  time  came  for  making  the  con- 
tract for  the  current  fiscal  year  1916  the  institution  requested  that  the  contract 
be  made  at  the  rate  of  $400  per  capita  per  school  year. 

In  view  of  this  increased  rate,  the  matter  was  taken  up  with  the  Bureau 
of  Education.  Dei)artment  of  Interior,  and  on  October  14,  1915,  the  auditor  of 
the  District  of  Columbia  was  advised,  in  reply  to  his  letter  requesting  informa- 
tion as  to  the  rates  of  tuition  of  deaf  children  throughout  the  United  States, 
charged  by  institutions  similar  to  the  Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf. 
The  bureau  stated  that  an  examination  of  the  reports  on  file  in  the  bureau 
showed     tlie  following  charges  to  public  institutions  for  the  deaf: 

"American  School.  Hartford,  Conn.,  .$300:  Montana  School  for  Deaf.  Boulder, 
Mont.,  $350;  Clarke  School.  Northampton,  Mass.,  $400:  California  School  for 
the  Deaf  and  Blind,  Berkely,  Cal.,  $340.  Six  different  schools  in  the  State  of 
New  York  charge  $325  for  county  pupils  5  to  12  years  of  age  and  $350  for 
State  pupils  12  years  of  age  and  upward. 

"In  each  case  the  amoiuits  stated  are  for  tuition  and  maintenance,'' includ- 
ing board,  lodging,  laundry,  medical  attendance,  instruction,  and  school  sup- 
plies. It  does  not  include  clothing  and  traveling  expenses.  The  Central. New 
York  Institution  at  Rome,  N.  Y.,  and  the  Clarke  School  at  Northampton,  Mass., 
charge  for  tuition  only  without  mnintennnce  $1.50  per  year." 

In  reply  to  the  letter  addressed  to  the  Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf, 
requesting  all  the  facts  upon  which  to  reach  a  decision  in  regard  to  an  in- 
crease in  the  rate  allowed  for  the  maintenance  of  District  of  Columbia  pupils 
the  following  letter  was  received : 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  103 

"Expenses  for  the  school  yenr  U)14-ir),  Kendall  School: 

Salaries $8,  897.  70 

Living  expenses    for    teachers G30.  00 

Food 3,  534.  48 

Ice 93.41 

Stipplies 658.78 

Laundry 353.  25 

Repairs 2,  098.  04 

Heat   and   light 1,770.10 

Sunt'ries  : 

Medical   expenses 566. 10 

lOquipiuent 770.  22 

Miscellaneous 113.38 

Total  expenses . 19,485.  46 

"  Receipts  for  the  school  year  191 1-15 : 

From  29.8  District  pupils,  at  $375  each 10,  937.  50 

From  2  pay  pupils,  at  $350  each 700.  00 

From  1  pay  pupil  for  half  year,  at  $350 175.  00 

From  1  pay  pupil,  at  $200 200.  00 

From  8  pupils  from  State  of  Delaware,  at  $300  each 2,400.00 

Total    receipts " 14,  412.  50 

"  There  were  also  in  iittendance  at  our  institution  3.5  students  in  Gallaudet 
College  from  the  District  for  tlie  school  year.  The  per  capita  cost  for  these 
(Gallaudet  College  students  was  $650.45,  or  a  total  of  $2,276.58.  The  receipts 
from  the  District  for  these  3.5  students  were  $375  per  capita,  or  a  total  cost 
of  $1,312..50. 

"  In  tbe  above  expenses  of  the  primary  de])artnient,  it  is  to  lie  noted  that  no 
charge  is  made  for  administration  or  upkeep  of  grounds. 

"  I  take  pleasure  in  forwarding  you  a  copy  of  the  Fifty-fifth  Annual  Report  of 
the  Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf,  which  contains,  in  the  appendix,  the  acts 
of  Congress  relating  to  our  institution.  On  page  14,  section  .5,  I  beg  leave  to 
call  your  attention  to  the  law  imder  which  pay  pupils  are  received  from  the 
various  States  and  Territories.  In  this  section  it  is  enacted  '  that  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  said  institution  to  receive  and  instruct  deaf  and  dumb  and  blind  per- 
sons from  any  of  the  States  and  Territories  of  the  United  States  on  such 
terms  as  may  be  agreed  upon  by  themselves,  their  parents,  guardians,  or  trus- 
tees and  the  proper  authorities  of  the  said  institution.'  A  few  pay  pupils  have 
been  received  under  this  act  from  various  States  where  preparation  for  Gal- 
laudet College,  our  advanced  department,  is  poor  at  a  rate  of  $350,  or  even  less 
in  special  cases.  Eight  pupils  have  been  on  our  rolls  for  several  years  from  the 
State  of  Delaware,  which  maintains  no  school  for  the  deaf,  at  a  rate  of  $300 
each  per  school  year,  under  an  agreement  made  a  number  of  years  ago.  It  has 
been  impossible  to  change  this  rate,  in  spite  of  frequent  appeals  to  the  authori- 
ties of  that  State,  and  the  pupils  have  been  retained  in  order  to  finish  their 
education. 

"  It  is  important  to  note  in  this  connection,  however,  that  the  overhead 
charges  for  heating  and  lighting  would  be  practically  the  same  without  these 
extra  pupils,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  do  away  with  any  of  the  domestic 
force  or  any  of  the  teaching  staff,  with  the  bare  possibility  of  one  teacher,  even 
though  these  pupils  from  outside  the  District  were  not  present  in  the  school. 
The  sum  received  for  their  maintenance,  therefore,  in  reality  helps  to  decrease 
the  cost  of  maintaining  the  pupils  from  the  District  of  Columbia. 

"  I  beg  leave  to  call  your  attention  also  to  the  provision  on  page  30  of  the  re- 
port, '  That  one-half  of  the  expenses  attending  the  instruction  of  deaf  and  dumb 
persons  admitted  to  said  institution  from  the  District  of  Columbia  under  section 
forty-eight  hundred  and  sixty-four  of  the  Revised  Statutes  shall  be  paid  from 
the  revenues  of  the  District  of  (Columbia  and  one-half  out  of  the  Treasury  of 
the  United  States,  and  hereafter  estimates  for  such  expenses  shall  each  year  be 
submitted  in  tlie  regular  estimates  for  tlie  expenses  of  the  government  of  the 
restrict  of  Columbia.'  Also,  on  pages  43  and  44,  provision  is  made  that  the 
expenses  shall  be  provided  for  '  under  a  contract  to  be  entered  into  with  the 
said  institution  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columl)ia.' 


104  DISTEICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

'■  You  will  not  that  the  latter  provision  makes  it  almost  impossible  to  carry 
out  the  former,  as  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  eight  or  nine  months  ahead  what 
the  actual  expenses  for  the  District  pupils  will  be  and  to  enter  into  a  contract 
for  the  same. 

'•  Our  Kendall  School  this  year  is  somewhat  larger  in  numbers  than  last. 
There  are  on  the  rolls  at  present  47  pupils  (32  from  the  District  of  Columbia), 
and  the  total  number  may  be  raised  to  48  or  .50  before  the  year  is  over.  It  is 
quite  impossible,  therefore,  that  the  per  capita  expense  may  be  as  low  as  $400. 
There  are  only  two  students  in  our  collegiate  department  from  the  District  of 
Columbia,  although  the  total  number  is  larger  than  usual. 

"  I  believe,  therefore,  that  a  per  capita  charge  of  $400  for  the  District  pupils 
maintained  in  our  institution  this  year  is  likely  to  cover  the  necessary  expenses, 
except  those  for  administration  and  care  of  grounds,  and  I  shall  be  glad  to 
sign  a  contract  for  the  present  school  year  at  the  rate  of  $400  per  capita. 

"  If  you  wish  it,  Mr.  Hooper,  our  disbursing  agent,  and  I  will  be  glad  to  call 
upon  you  and  show  you  our  figui-es  for  the  last  three  years,  during  which  time 
we  have  kept  a  somewhat  accurate  account  of  the  expenses  attending  the  main- 
tenance of  the  District  of  Columbia  pupils  in  our  institution." 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  a  contract  was  entered  into  with  the  Columbia  Insti- 
tution for  the  Deaf  for  the  education  of  District  pupils  therein  at  the  rate  of 
$375  per  annum. 

The  appropriation  for  the  current  year,  payable  jointly  from  the  United  States 
and  the  District  of  Columbia  revenues,  is  $12,250.  The  Aoucher  submitted  for 
the  latter  half,  of  the  year  shows  a  deficiency  of  $672.13.  In  the  event  of  Con- 
irress  appropriatins  for  this  deficiencv.  the  total  cost  of  this  st^rvice  will  be 
$12,922.13. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  school  year  there  were  32  inmates  for  the  full 
period  and  3  for  a  portion  of  that  term,  for  which  the  cost  was  $6,462.60.  Dur- 
ing the  second  half  of  the  school  term  there  were  34  inmates  or  pupils  for  this 
entire  term  and  1  for  a  portion  of  that  term,  at  a  total  expense  of  $6,459.53. 

The  per  capita  rate  paid  the  Columbia  Institution  is  based  upon  the  school 
year  and  not  the  fiscal  year. 

The  number  of  deaf  pupils  and  students  remaining  in  the  institution  on 
July  1.  1914.  was  110 :  admitted  during  the  year.  41 :  total,  151 :  admitted  for 
the  school  year  1915-16,  42.  From  July  1.  1914,  to  July  1,  1915,  there  were 
under  instruction  85  males  and  66  females;  a  total  of  151:  of  whom  108  have 
l»een  in  the  collegiate  department,  representing  34  States,  the  District  of 
Columbia,  Canada,  and  Wales;  and  43  in  the  primary  department.  Of  these. 
35  were  admitted  as  beneficiaries  of  the  District  of  Columl)ia.  During  the 
fiscal  year  32  were  discharged  from  the  institution  l)y  graduation  and  other- 
wise. 

The  following  appropriation  was  made  for  the  Columbia  Instituti.n  for  tln^ 
Deaf,  fiscal  year  1916.  wholly  out  of  Federal  revenues  (sundry  civil  act  ap- 
proved :Mar.  3.  1915)  : 

"  For  support  of  the  institution,  including  salaries  niu}  incidental  exjienses. 
liooks  and  illustrative  apparatus,  and  general  rejiairs  and  iniprovcnients. 
$70,000. 

■'  For  repairs  to  buildings  of  the  institution,  inchiding  ]ilunibing  and  steam 
fitting,  and  for  repairs  to  pavements  within  the  grounds.  $6.000."" 

Senator  Curtis.  We  have  had  a  good  deal  of  this  with  the  Indian 
schools,  and  the  very  highest  that  it  has  cost  us.  where  we  furnish 
clothing  and  all.  is  $310.  and  that  is  miles  and  miles  from  a  rail- 
road. Surely  this  institution  can  not  be  much  more  expensive  than 
an  entire  Indian  school.  Our  average  now  at  Haskell.  Carlisle,  and 
Phoenix,  on  account  of  the  large  number  that  come,  is  within  $170. 
AVe  keep  them  the  yeai'  round,  furnish  them  with  food,  clothing, 
and  evervthing. 

Commissioner  Xeavman.  AVe  presume  tho.se  schools  have  farms 
connected  with  them  on  which  they  raise  a  good  deal  of  their  food: 
do  they  not? 

Senator  Curtis.  I  regret  to  say.  they  do  not  raise  as  much  as  they 
should. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  105 

r  Commissioner  Xewmax.  And,  of  course,  the  character  of  the  in- 
stitution must  be  taken  into  consideration.  This  is  a  specialized 
institution. 

Senator  Smith.  Does  this  building  belong  to  the  Government? 
I      Commissioner  Xewmax.  Xo.  sir. 

Commissioner  Bijoavxlow.  It  is  semigovernmental,  however. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  It  is  one  of  these  semia()\ernuiental  in- 
stitutions. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  For  what  are  you  asking,  Mr.  Conunis- 
sioner  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  We  are  asking  for  $13,200  instead  of 
$12,250. 

Senator  Smith.  Is  there  any  money  donated  by  outsiders  for  this 
purpose  ? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  I  do  not  know  whether  they  have  an  en- 
dowment or  not.  Senator.    I  doubt  if  they  have. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Is  not  this  exclusively  a  Federal  institution? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Almost  exclusively.  They  have  some  pri- 
vate pupils.  Of  course  in  the  sundry  civil  bill  there  is  an  appropria- 
tion for  the  maintenance  of  the  school. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes. 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  Theii  they  also  take  care  of  the  deaf 
and  dumb  pupils  of  the  State  of  Delaware,  which  has  no  institution 
of  this  kind. 

Senator  Smith.  They  pay  for  it.  do  they  not? 

Commissioner  Browxloav,  Oh,  yes;  the  State  pays  for  it. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  Just  as  we  do. 

Senator  Smith.  That  does  not  alfect  the  cost  of  this  matter  at  all? 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  X^'ot  at  all. 

Senator  Smith.  The  fact  is  it  ought  to  cheapen  it,  ought  it  not, 
Avhen  they  have  a  larger  number? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax'.  Oh,  yes,  sir. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  What  classes  do  get  the  benefit  of  the  Gov- 
ernment aid? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax".  These  35  from  the  District  of  Columbia 
and  the  others  from  the  country  at  large. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  Is  the  advantage  they  get  in  a  loAver  price 
than  is  ]:)aid  by  the  others? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  I  do  not  knoAv  what  their  rates  are  to 
their  private  patients.  Senator. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  Do  you  understand  that  there  are  any  free 
patients  there? 

Commissioner  Xeav^fax'^.  Oh,  no. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  To  Avhat  extent  is  the  Government  aiding 
them  annually? 

Senator  Gallixger.  They  take  the  deaf  and  dumb  from  all  OA'er 
the  country.  I  knoAv  a  young  man  who  came  from  my  State  a  feAV 
years  ago  Avas  admitted  there. 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  They  take  some  free  patients.  I  do 
not  knoAv  exactly  the  arrangement,  but  I  knoAv  that  they  Avill  take 
a  deaf  and  dumb  young  man  or  young  Avoman  Avho  Avants  to  take 
the  higher  branches  Avhere  the  State  institution  does  not  go  abo\'e 
the  eighth  grade.  They  will  take  them  here  and  let  them  pay  what 
they  are  able  to  pay,  sometimes  more  and  sometimes  less. 


106  DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Curtis.  I  Imow  that  they  have  had  two  or  three  from 
our  State  there,  and  they  are  all  very  well  pleased  with  the  insti- 
tution. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  is  a  very  high-class  institution,  and  an  ex- 
pensive institution  to  run. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Very  expensive  to  run. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  has  very  fine  property.  Of  course,  the 
overhead  charges  are  very  considerable,  and  I  imagine  the  authorities 
of  the  institution  take  the  students  as  cheaply  as  they  can  afford  to 
take  them. 

Commissioner  Xeavman.  The  information  that  you  wanted  is  be- 
ing obtained.  Senator  Dillingham. 

Senator  S:mith.  Mr.  Xewman.  do  you  know  how  many  scholars, 
all  told,  there  are  in  the  institution? 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  I  have  just  sent  for  that  information  now, 
Senator. 

Senator  Curtis.  $76,000  was  appropriated  by  the  Government  last 
year  in  the  sundry  civil  bill  for  salaries,  incidental  expenses,  books, 
illustrative  purposes,  and  general  repairs  and  improvements,  and 
$6,000  for  repairs  to  buildings  in  the  institution,  including  plumbing, 
steamfitting,  etc. 

Senator  Smith.  $76,000  was  appropriated  last  year:  and  how  many 
people  are  benefited  by  the  appropriation? 

Commissioner  Newman.  I  have  just  sent  for  that  information. 
Senator.  Students  are  admitted  on  certificate  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior.  They  make  a  charge  for  them  where  they  can  get  it.  In 
cases  where  they  are  able  to  get  it  they  make  a  charge.  Where  they 
are  not,  they  take  them  without  any  charge. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  have  here  the  law  governing  that  institution. 
It  might  be  well  enough  to  put  it  in  the  record : 

Whenever  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  is  satistied,  by  evidence  produced  by 
the  president  of  the  Columbia  Institution  for  the  Instruction  of  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb,  that  any  deaf  and  dumb  person  of  teachable  age,  properly  belonging  to 
the  District  of  Columbia,  is  in  indigent  circumstances,  and  can  not  command 
the  means  to  secure  an  education,  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  authorize  such  person 
to  enter  the  institution  for  instruecion. 

That  relates  to  the  indigent  of  the  District. 

Senator  Curtis.  Then  there  must  be  another  law.  Senator,  because 
they  admit  them  from  other  States. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Oh,  yes;  I  know  they  do. 

Senator  Smith.  Free,  Senator? 

Senator  Curtis.  I  think  so.  I  know  I  have  written  about  a  num- 
ber of  them,  and  they  have  been  admitted.  My  recollection  is  that 
they  were  children  of  parents  who  could  not  pay.  but  I  would  not  be 
sure  about  that.  But  there  are  some  arrangements  whereby  they  let 
them  in. 

Senator  S:mith.  We  can  not  come  to  any  intelligent  conclusion 
until  we  find  out  how  many  children  are  being  helped  by  this  insti- 
tution. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  next  section  is : 

Deaf-nuites,  not  exceeding  40  in  number,  residing  in  the  several  States  and 
Territories,  applying  for  admission  to  the  collegiate  department  of  the  Columbia 
Institution  for  the  Instruction  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  shall  be  received  on  the 
same  terms  and  conditions  as  those  prescribed  by  law  for  residents  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  at  the  discretion  of  the  i)resident  of  the  institution;  but 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  107 

no  student  eoiuinii-  from  either  of  tlie  St:it<>s  shall  be  supi>"'i't''*l  '»y  the  United 
States  during  any  portion  of  the  time  lie  remains  therein. 

Senator  Curtis.  It  simply  oives  them  the  instruction. 

Senator  Gallixgek.  Yes.  Mr.  Chairman.  I  notice  on  page  51  that 
the  commissioners  made  a  hirge  number  of  recommendations  in  refer- 
ence to  additional  ground,  etc..  for  a  large  number  of  school  build- 
ings in  the  District.  I  Avas  going  to  ask  the  commissionei's  if  they 
had  abandoned  that,  or  if  there  are  any  particular  items  in  it  that 
are  of  immediate  necessity. 

Commissioner  Brow^'loav.  AVe  have  not  abandoned  it.  We  had 
passed  it  over,  with  the  rest  of  the  strictly  public-school  matters, 
until  the  time  Avhen  the  school  board  should  be  present.  There  are 
some  items  there  that  Ave  think  are  of  very  great  merit. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  ansAvers  my  question.  Then  Ave  come 
oA'er  to  the  Metropolitan  police.   '"'*,. 

■'Mil.     •.)<1   I 

METROPOLITAN   POLICE. 

Senator  Smith.  In  the  case  of  the  Metropolitan  police,  have  you, 
in  your  recommendations,  taken  into  consideration  the  laAv  that  AA-as 
proposed  for  an  increase  in  the  pay  of  the  officers  of  the  police 
department  ? 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  At  the  time  these  estimates  A\'ere  made, 
in  October  of  last  year,  Ave  did  estimate  for  an  increase  in  the  present 
number  of  officers.  Subsequently  a  bill  AA'as  introduced  in  both 
Houses  providing  for  the  increase  in  the  number  of  police  officers 
and  an  increase  in  their  pay  Avhich^  differed  slightly  from  our  esti- 
mates, but  Avhich  Avas  approved  by  the  committee.  That  bill  has  been 
ordered  to  be  favorably  reported  from  the  House  committee,  and 
Avas  favorably  reported  by  the  Senate  committee,  and  has  passed 
the  Senate.  After  that  another  l»ill  increasing  the  pay  and  entirely 
changing  and  reorganizing  the  character  of  the  detective  force  Avas 
passed  bA'  the  Senate.  That  bill  Avas  not  referred  to  the  commis- 
sioners in  time  for  us  to  have  an  examination  made  of  it.  If  it  had 
been.  Ave  should  have  reported  adversely  on  it. 

Senator  Smith.  You  should  have  reported  adversely  on  AA'hat? 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  On  the  bill  concerning  the  cletectiA-es — 
that  is,  as  to  the  reorganization  of  the  detective  force.  I  should  like 
noAv  to  take  up  that  matter. 

In  draAving  up  this  bill  for  the  increase  of  the  officers  only  officers 
whose  salaries  A\-ere  detennined  by  the  police  reorganization  act  of 
1906  and  only  the  number  of  officers  mentioned  specifically  in  that 
act  Avere  considered — in  other  Avords,  the  major  and  superintendent, 
the  inspectors,  captains,  and  lieutenants.  The  commissioners  avouIcI 
like  at  this  time  to  ask  to  have  the  scale  of  salaries  and  the  number 
of  officers  as  set  forth  in  Senate  bill  1479.  Avhich  has  already  passed 
the  Senate,  substituted  for  the  numbers  and  the  amounts  appropi'i- 
ated  in  the  schedule  of  officers  for  the  department  and  to  add  to  that 
an  increased  number  of  sergeants.  The  bill  does  increase  the  salary 
of  the  sergeants,  but  not  the  number  of  the  sergeants,  and  Ave  are 
A'erA'  badly  in  need  of  an  increase. 

Senator  S.aiith.  Then,  as  I  understand,  you  approve  of  the  Senate 
bill  Avith  this  increase  that  vou  ask  foi-  in  the  sergeants? 


108  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Brown  low.  Yes;  tlie  increased  number,  as  provided 
for  in  Senate  bill  4479.  with  the  changed  salaries,  as  provided  in  that 
bill,  and  the  addition  of  the  change  from  16  sergeants,  as  provided 
in  the  current  appropriation,  to  54  sergeants.    That  would  cover  it. 

Senator  Gallixger.  What  is  the  number  of  that  bill  I 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Senate  bill  4479.  I  have  several  copies, 
of  it  here. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  should  be  glad  to  have  some  copies  of  it. 

Senator  S:\[ith.  Do  you  know  the  status  of  that  bill  in  the  House? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  That  bill  has  been  favorably  reported 
to  the  House  with  an  amendment. 

Senator  Smith.  It  has  not  passed  yet? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  It  has  not  passed.  It  has  been  favor- 
ably reported  with  an  amendment. 

Senator  S:mith.  What  is  the  amendment  ? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  The  amendment  is  designed  to  accom- 
plish, so  far  as  pay  is  concerned,  the  same  thing  that  is  sought  by  the 
other  bill  that  passed  the  Senate.  Senate  bill  580:2 :  and  the  amend- 
ment as  reported  to  the  House  would  change  the  additional  compen- 
sation of  24  privates  detailed  for  special  service  in  the  detection  and 
prevention  of  crime  from  a  basis  of  $240  a  year  to  $480  a  year.  A 
detective  now  gets  $1,200.  his  regular  salary  as  a  private,  and  then 
$240  a  year  additional,  making  him  get  $1,440.  The  House  amend- 
ment increases  that  another  $240.  so  that  his  compensation  would  be 
$1,680  a  year  rather  than  $1,600  a  year,  as  provided  in  Senate  biU 
5802,  which  passed  the  Senate. 

Senator  Smith.  What  is  the  number  of  the  bill  that  I  introduced? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  You  introduced  Senate  bill  4479.  I 
believe  this  other  one  was  introduced  by  Senator  Swanson,  if  I  am 
not  mistaken.  The  one  that  you  introduced  is  the  one  that  I  have 
just  spoken  of.  that  has  our  entire  approval. 

Senator  Smith.  And  that  was  favorably  reported  in  the  House? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  It  was  favorably  reported  in  the  House. 
The  House  committee  has  not  favorably  acted  on  the  other  bill. 

I  should  like  now  to  explain  to  the  committee  our  objections  to  the 
other  bill  that  passed  the  Senate.    It  provides: 

That  the  Commissioners  of  tlie  District  of  Columbia  are  hereby  autliorized, 
empowered,  and  directed  to  maintain  a  force  of  detectives,  to  consist  of  twenty- 
four  men.  who  shall  have  the  rank  of  lieutenant,  and  who  shall  be  promoted  to 
the  detective  force  from  the  present  detective  sergeants  of  the  ^Metropolitan 
police  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  such  twenty-four  lieutenants  shall  re- 
ceive an  annual  salary  of  .$1,600;  that  no  member  of  the  detective  force  shall 
be  removed  therefrom  except  on  written  charges  and  after  an  opportunity  for 
defense  on  the  part  of  the  detective  against  whom  charges  are  made. 

Senator  Smith.  That  amendment  was  introduced  by  Senator 
James,  was  it  not? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  That  last  part  was  introduced  by  Sen- 
ator James.  I  believe. 

As  a  matter  of  administration  of  the  i)()lice  department.  I  think 
that  would  be  a  back^vard  step.  The  police  department  now  con- 
sists of  715  men.  There  are  about  600  privates.  These  privates  begin 
work  at  a  salary  of  $75  a  month.  At  the  end  of  three  years  they  are 
promoted  to  $90,  and  at  the  end  of  five  additional  years  they  are 
promoted  to  $100  a  month.     Senator  Smith's  bill,  which  has  passed 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  100 

the  Sennte,  provides  that  they  shall  reach  the  maxiniuni  salary  of 
$l,ii()0  a  year  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  year,  instead  of  the  eighth  year. 
It  makes  that  change  in  addition  to  the  change  for  the  ollicers. 

Senator  Smith.  It  gives  them  that  benefit — it  decreases  the  num- 
ber of  years? 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  It  decreases  the  number  of  years  re- 
quired to  reach  the  maximum  salary;  and  we  approve  of  that,  be- 
lieving that  a  man  at  the  end  of  five  years  has  reached  his  maximum 
efficiency. 

Senator  Smith,  If  I  remember  rightly,  there  Avas  no  additional 
pay  about  it,  except  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  years  required  to 
reach  the  maximum  pay. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  A  decrease  in  the  number  of  years  re- 
quired to  reach  the  maximum  pay;  a  decrease  from  eight  to  five 
years. 

The  detective  force  at  present  is  composed  of  24  privates,  who  are 
detailed  by  the  commissioners  to  the  special  work  of  prevention  and 
detection  of  crime.  They  have  no  official  status.  They  are  called 
"  detective  sergeants,"  although  they  have  not  that  title  in  law. 
They  are  merely  privates  detailed  to  that  work,  and  so  long  as  they 
are  on  that  work  they  get  an  additional  compensation  of  $240  a  year. 
A  great  deal  of  that  is  required  by  the  special  expenses  to  which 
they  are  necessarily  put  in  trying  to  get  testimony,  so  that  I  think  the 
increase  of  the  additional  compensation  from  $240  to  $480  per  year 
is  justified.  But  to  make  them  lieutenants — to  put  these  24  men  on 
the  same  basis  as  the  13  men  Avho  are  lieutenants  actually  command- 
ing precincts,  and  then  to  give  them  a  permanent  status — means 
that  in  a  very  short  time  we  will  have  a  detective  force  composed 
entirely  of  old  men.    A  good  many  of  them  are  old  men  now. 

At  present  when  a  detective  does  something  that  unfits  him  for 
further  service  we  send  him  back  to  his  precinct.  He  continues  a 
policeman,  and  we  can  bring  up  younger  men.  "We  have  some 
elasticity  in  making  up  the  detective  force.  We  can  bring  up  a  new 
man  who  is  not  known  to  everybody,  but  if  this  legislation  should 
prevail  you  would  have  those  men  permanently  in  the  positions. 
The}^  could  not  be  even  demoted  from  the  office  of  detective  except 
by  a  trial  before  a  trial  board,  much  in  the  manner  that  is  now  re- 
quired to  dismiss  any  member  of  the  police  force  from  the  service. 

1  believe  that  every  good  purpose  would  be  served  by  giving  the 
detectives  their  increased  compensation,  and  that  nothing  desirable 
could  result  from  making  those  positions  permanent,  giving  them  a 
higher  rank  and  a  permanent  rank,  so  that  the  detective  office  would 
lose  every  bit  of  the  elasticity  that  is  necessaiy  if  it  is  to  do  good 
work  in  the  prevention  and  detection  of  crime. 

Therefore  the  commissioners  would  like  to  see  these  increases  made 
in  the  salaries  of  the  officers — meaning  inspectors,  captains,  lieuten- 
ants, and  sergeants.  I  should  like  to  say  in  that  connection  that, 
according  to  the  figures  of  the  Census  Bureau,  which  lately  made  a 
special  investigation,  Washington,  although  the  sixteenth  city  in  size, 
is  the  thirty-seventh  in  the  amount  of  money  that  is  paid  to  its 
police  officers.  The  privates  are  paid  fairly  well,  but  the  police  offi- 
cers have  been  very  much  underj^aid.  It  is  also  true  that  we  stand 
rather  low  in  the  scale  of  pay  of  detectives. 


110  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Smith.  Upon  investigation,  I  found  that,  so  far  as  the 
officers  are  concerned,  the  police  force  of  Washington  is  less  than 
that  of  an}'  other  city  I  could  find  of  like  character.  * " 

Commissioner  Browxloav.  It  is  less  than  that  of  any  city  of  con- 
siderable size.    That  is  quite  true. 

Senator  Smith.  "We  went  over  that  question  very  thoroughly  to 
find  out  whether  or  not  the}-  were  paid  in  proportion  to  the  police  of 
other  cities,  and  we  found  they  were  not;  but  we  also  ascertained 
that,  so  far  as  the  privates  are  concerned,  they  were  equally  paid. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  They  average  up  well,  except  that  it 
does  take  rather  longer  here  to  reach  the  maximum  pa}'  than  it  does 
in  other  cities. 

Senator  Smith.  The  time  was  reduced  to  five  years  in  order  to 
equalize  that. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  That  was  reduced;  and  every  part  of 
that  bill  meets  with  our  heart}'  support. 

So  far  as  the  bill  concerning  detectives  is  concerned,  we  are  per- 
fectly willing  and,  indeed,  anxious  that  the  compensation  of  the 
detectives  should  be  increased  to  a  scale  commensurate  with  that  paid  i  ' 
in  other  cities.  We  also  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  detec-  ^  ' 
fives  are  put  to  unusual  expense  in  obtaining  evidence.  But  we  do 
not  want  to  see  the  detective  force  made  a  hard-and-fast  permanent 
institution  which  in  a  very  short  time,  because  there  are  practically 
no  removals,  would  make  it  a  force  of  old  men. 

Senator  Smith.  That  would  be  special  legislation,  Mr.  Brownlow. 
That  does  not  come  so  much  under  our  jurisdiction. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  I  know  it  does  not ;  but  this  is  the  first 
opportunity  I  have  had  to  speak  about  it.  It  will  come  before 
another  committee ;  but  I  should  like  to  see  in  the  appropriation  bill 
the  compensation  of  the  detectives  increased  in  the  manner  that  I 
have  suggested  without  additional  legislation.  I  should  like  to  see 
in  the  appropriation  bill,  however,  all  the  change  of  legislation  that 
is  contemplated  in  Senate  bill  1479.  That  is  the  bill  introduced  by 
Senator  Smith. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Commissioner  Brownlow,  have  you  ever  given 
any  attention  to  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not.  when  we  increase 
the  salaries  of  policemen,  firemen,  and  others  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  tl>ere  is  some  middleman  getting  a  profit  out  of  it? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  I  had  not. 

Senator  Gallixger.  You  have  no  information  on  that  point? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  The  only  thing  that  has  come  to  iny 
attention  at  all  that  could  possibly  mean  anything  in  that  direction 
is  the  curious  activities  of  a  person  who  said  he  come  from  Balti- 
more, and  who  has  been  trying  to  see  me  and  to  see  Maj.  Pullman. 
I  believe  ISlaj.  Pullman  saAv  him  once.  I  heard  that  he  was  en- 
deavoring to  pretend  to  the  policemen  that  he  had  great  influence 
Avith  Congress.  I  refused  to  see  him,  and  I  warned  some  of  the 
officers  about  him.  As  far  as  I  know  they  have  no  connection  with 
him,  and  they  are  at  a  loss  to  understand  his  activities. 

Senator  Smith.  What  is  his  name? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  I  believe  it  is  Kosenfelt.  He  says 
he  is  a  huvyer.  I  have  never  met  the  man  myself.  I  have  heard 
of  him.  and' have  refused  to  meet  him. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPKOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  Ill 

I  will  say  this.  Senator  Gallinger:  For  a  good  many  years  the 
major  and  superintendent  of  police  has  recommended  some  in- 
creases in  the  pa}^  of  officers.  Shortly  after  I  became  commissioner, 
and  the  police  department  was  assigned  to  my  immediate  direction, 
a  change  was  made  in  the  office  of  major  and  superintendent  of 
police.  For  three  months  before  that  change  was  made  the  former 
head  of  the  police  department  was  very  ill,  and  I  had  from  the 
beginning  almost  actual  supervision.  Then,  when  the  new  man 
came  in,  for  several  months  I  was  in  very  close  and  intimate  touch 
with  the  police  department.  It  struck  me  at  that  time  that  for  a 
sergeant — who  is  in  command  of  a  squad  of  men,  and  who  super- 
vises the  men  on  the  beat,  and  upon  whose  skill  and  honesty  in 
supervision  depends  the  effectiveness  of  the  patrol  system — to  re- 
ceive only  $50  a  year  more  than  a  patrolman  appealed  to  me  as  being 
too  small.  Then  I  found  that  lieutenant,  who  is  on  duty  12  hours 
a  da}',  whereas  a  patrolman  is  on  duty  only  8  hours  a  day,  got  only 
$10  a  month  more  than  a  private ;  and  that  a  captain,  a  man  in  com- 
mand of  10  to  TO  men,  a  man  of  some  prominence  locally  in  the 
conununit}',  and  with  great  responsibility,  got  onl,y  $1,500  a  year, 
or  only  $'25  a  month  more  than  a  patrolman. 

Maj.  Pullman,  in  his  annual  report,  repeated  the  recommendation 
that  had  been  made  several  times  to  the  comniissioners,  that  these 
increases  be  asked  for.  but  for  the  first  time  the  commissioners  in- 
cluded them  in  their  estimates.  Then,  afterwards,  when  the  report  of 
the  Census  Offi-ce  had  been  made.  I  talked  with  two  or  three  Members 
of  the  House  who  thought  that  our  estimates  had  been  too  modest. 
So  I  know  that,  so  far  as  the  commissioners  are  concerned,  the  mat- 
ter was  taken  up  purely  voluntarily,  and  so  far  as  I  know  the  lobby- 
ists arrived  on  the  scene  after  the  movement  was  already  under  way. 

vSenator  Gallixger.  I  did  not  mean,  of  course,  to  suggest  that  any- 
thing of  that  kind  would  applj'  to  the  commissioners. 

Commissioner  Browxloav.  I  Imow  you  did  not. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  was  afraid  the  commissioners  had  not  knowl- 
edge of  some  things  that  are  going  on  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  or 
that  have  gone  on. 

Senator  Smith.  "Was  it  your  idea  that  this  person  has  gotten  money 
out  of  the  policemen  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  He  has  endeavored  to  do  so,  I  have 
been  told.  Senator.  I  have  no  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  facts  in 
the  matter. 

Senator  Gallixger.  My  opinion  is  based  upon  what  I  think  is 
accurate  information,  that  in  the  past — I  will  not  say  that  this  Mr. 
Rosenfelt.  or  whatever  his  name  is,  has  gotten  any  money — but  cer- 
tain men  representing  these  employees  have  taken  a  *■•  rake-off  "  from 
increases  that  have  been  made  by  Congress.  I  have  not  any  doubt 
about  that,  and  I  think  it  would  be  well  for  the  commissioners  to  be 
sure  that  in  the  matter  of  increasing  the  pay  of  the  workingmen 
there  is  not  somebody  representing  them.  I  speak  from  some  con- 
sideralde  knowledge  on  that  subject.  I  do  not  make  the  suggestion 
that  it  is  going  on  at  the  present  time,  but  that  it  has  gone  on  in  the 
past  is  to  my  mind  indisputable,  and  it  ought  to  be  stopped. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  There  was  an  instance  several  years 
ago  of  a  man  who  sued  a  policeman  to  recover  a  fee. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Whv.  to  be  sure. 


112  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Browxloav.  We  Avere  so  desirous  of  keeping  any- 
thing of  that  kind  out  of  this  matter  that  Maj.  PuUman.  with  my 
consent,  authorized  a  committee  composed  of  three  members  of  the 
police  force  to  talk  to  Senators  in  regard  to  this  matter. 

Senator  Smith.  It  seems  to  me  that  a  policeman  who  has  not  any 
more  sense  than  to  pay  some  one  to  assist  him  in  securing  legislation, 
when  it  is  found  out  that  he  has  contributed  for  any  such  purpose, 
ought  to  be  turned  out  of  the  force. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  Oh.  we  certainly  should  do  so. 

Senator  Smith.  He  is  not  fit  to  be  there. 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  Xot  at  all.  I  was  about  to  sa}'  that  by 
way  of  trying  "  to  safeguard  the  thing.""  we  authorized  the  men  to 
select  a  committee  of  their  own.  Avhich  was  headed  by  Capt.  Harri- 
son; and  I  have  no  doubt  that  committee  called  on  you. 

Senator  Smith.  Capt.  Harrison  is  the  onh^  man  who  has  called 
to  see  me,  and  sent  for  him  to  give  me  his  views  about  this  matter. 
He  is  the  only  man  I  have  talked  with,  as  I  remember,  in  regard  to 
increased  pay  for  the  officers. 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  And  he  did  not  come  to  3'ou  until  after 
he  had  asked  permission  of  me.    I  authorized  him  to  do  so. 

Senator  SMith.  I  wanted  to  talk  with  him  because  I  wanted  the 
information  in  regard  to  it  after  fully  investigating  what  the  other 
cities  had  paid.  He  came  to  me.  and  I  must  say  that  I  found  him  a 
very  intelligent  man.  and  it  seemed  to  me  an  upright  man. 

That  finishes  up.  as  I  understand,  the  Metropolitan  police  matter. 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  As  far  as  the  salaries  are  concerned,  it 
does.  We  asked  for  $7,000  for  repairs  and  improvements  to  police 
stations  and  grounds,  and  the  House  cut  that  to  the  current  appro- 
priation of  $0,000.  The  estimate  was  made  by  the  municipal  archi- 
tect, or  in  consultation  with  him.  Some  of  the  upper  stories  of  the 
police  stations,  especially,  are  in  very  bad  condition,  and  we  should 
like  to  have  the  full  amount  that  was  estimated. 

Then,  on  the  bottom  of  page  54,  there  is  an  item  printed  that  was 
omitted  from  the  House  bill,  concerning  pensions.  AVe  did  not  ask 
for  anv  appropriation  to  pay  the  arrears  of  the  police  and  firemen's 
pension  funds,  which  are  not  always  sufficient  to  pay  the  full  amounts 
awared:  but  we  did  ask  for  the  year  1917  an  amount  sufficient  to 
meet  those  arrears.  A  bill  providing  for  a  different  system  of  pen- 
sion funds  for  the  firemen  and  policemen  is  pending  in  the  House, 
and  for  that  reason  I  do  not  care  to  go  further  than  that. 

In  the  case  of  the  item  for  miscellaneous  and  contingent  expenses, 
which  begins  on  line  '20,  page  5-i,  and  extends  to  and  includes  line  14, 
page  55.  the  House  left  the  appropriation  at  $30,000.  We  had  esti- 
mated for  $35,000.  We  find  that  it  is  increasingly  difficult  to  do 
all  the  work  that  ought  to  be  done  within  that  amount:  and.  of 
course,  next  year  we  are  going  to  have  the  price  of  gasoline  in- 
creased '200  per  cent,  and  that  includes  all  of  the  gasoline  fpr  patrol 
wagons  and  other  motor-driven  apparatus  of  the  police  department. 
We  should  like  to  have  the  contingent  fund  increased  to  $35,000. 

We  estimated  the  sum  of  $2,500  for  the  amount  to  be  spent  by 
the  major  and  superintendent,  but  that  was  for  a  contingency  that 
disappeared  before  we  went  before  the  House  committee;  so  that  the 
$500  limitation  is  all  that  is  required. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  113 

For  the  maintenance  of  motor  vehicles  we  aslced  for  $7,500.  The 
current  appropriation  is  $0,000.  The  House  granted  us  $7,000. 
Year  before  hist  we  had  to  g-et  a  deficiency  appropriation  for  that 
purpose,  because  of  an  accident  or  two.  This  year  I  think  we  will 
come  out  all  rioht  without  a  deficiency:  but  on  account  of  the  in- 
creased price  of  supplies  we  should  like  to  have  at  least  the  au- 
thorization for  the  $500  additional. 

AVe  asked  for  $1,500  for  a  motor  vehicle  for  the  use  of  the  major 
and  superintendent  of  police,  to  take  the  place  of  a  horse-drawn 
vehicle.  The  House  limited  that  to  $700.  In  the  case  of  a  car  that 
will  be  in  use  as  that  car  will  be.  practically  24  hours  a  day,  for 
police  purposes.  I  doubt  if  a  very  light  car.  such  as  you  could  get 
for  $700.  would  be  an  economical  purchase. 

Senator  Curtis.  I  do  not  know:  if  you  want  to  travel  a  good  deal, 
and  save  running  expenses  and  gasoline,  the  lighter  the  car  the 
better.     That  is  a'fact.     I  am  not  advertising  Fords  here,  either. 

Commissioner  Bkownlow.  We  went  over  the  question  of  the  limi- 
tation of  price  at  another  point  and  asked  that  it  be  raised. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  We  asked  for  an  appropriation  for  the 
reconstruction  of  cells  in  the  stations  of  the  second,  seventh,  and 
ninth  precincts.  The  House  allowed  the  estimates  for  one  of  the 
three  precincts.  There  are  11  precincts,  and  we  have  modern  steel 
cells  in  all  of  them  except  these  three.  These  three  have  old  brick 
dungeons,  very  insanitary,  and  very  medieval,  and  very  difficult  to 
keep  warm.  In  the  cell  house,  which  is  composed  of  a  bank  of  brick 
cells,  there  is  a  coal  stove,  and  when  you  make  enough  fire  to  heat 
the  cells  at  the  farthest  end.  the  cells  nearest  the  stove  are  prac- 
tically converted  into  ovens.  We  had  thought  it  would  be  better  to 
ask  for  $1-2,950  so  as  to  bring  all  of  the  police-station  cells  up  to  the 
modern  standard. 

Senator  Gallixger.  We  had  a  long  contest  with  the  House  on  that 
subject. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  We  tried  that  last  year.  I  believe. 

Senator  Gallinger.  We  have  for  several  years. 

Senator  Smith  of  INIaryland.  You  got  one  last  year  and  they 
have  given  you  one  this  time. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes:  theii-  policy  seems  to  be  to  provide  one 
at  a  time.    We  can  try  it  again. 

Senator  Smith  of  iSIaryland.  You  asked  for  three  and  they  gave 
you  one  in  the  House,  as  I  understand  it? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  ]Maryland.  And  you  maintain  that  three  are 
necessary  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Three  are  necessary. 

fire  department. 

In  the  fire  department  we  asked  some  increases  in  salaries,  and 
for  one  additional  battalion  chief  engineer,  both  of  which  requests 
were  granted  by  the  House.     We  did  make  some  estimates  in  the 

4r,T37— IG S 


114  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPKIATIOX    BILL,  lUlT. 

clerical  force  in  the  lire  department  that  were  not  granted.  AVe 
asked  for  an  increase  in  the  salary  of  the  chief  clerk  of  the  tire  de- 
partment frcm  $1,800  to  $2,000.  The  chief  clerk  of  the  lire  depart- 
ment is  practically  the  business  administrator  of  the  entire  depart- 
ment. The  position  itself  is  one  of  great  responsibility,  and  it  is 
filled  noAV  by  a  man  of  extraordinary  efficiency,  who  has  been  there 
for  a  good  many  years,  and  his  title  of  chief  clerk  does  not  denote 
the  imi)ortance  of  his  service,  and  we  think  that  his  salary  ought  to 
be  increased. 

We  asked  that  the  salary  of  another  clerk  be  increased  from 
$1,200  to  $1,400.  That  clerk  is  a  stencgrapher,  and  must  of  neces- 
sity l)e  (pialified  as  a  court  reporter,  because  he  is  the  one  that  takes 
the  hearings  in  all  cases  before  the  fire  department  trial  boards, 
and  it  is  difficult,  for  $1,200.  to  keep  a  stenographer  when  has  enough 
skill  to  do  that  kind  of  work. 

Then  Ave  asked  for  a  new  clerk.  "•  who  shall  be  a  stenographer  and 
typewriter,-"  at  $1,000,  The  chief  clerk  now  has  to  do  a  great  deal 
of  the  corresiJondence  himself,  and  the  clerical  work  of  the  depart- 
ment has  increased  so  much  that  there  is  this  need  of  additional 
clerical  force  in  the  department. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

For  repairs  and  improvements  to  engine  houses  and  grounds  we 
asked  $15,000,  and  the  House  let  the  appropriation  stand  where  it 
has  been.  Some  of  the  fire-engine  houses  are  in  good  condition,  and 
some  are  in  quite  bad  condition,  and  the  appropriation  has  not 
been  enough  to  keep  up  the  repairs  as  they  should  be.  and  especially 
to  the  upper  stories.  The  upper  stories  are  dormitories.  The  men 
are  on  duty  24  hours  a  day.  and  they  must  sleep  there,  and  we  feel 
that  their  surroundings  ought  to  be  kej^t  up  to  a  high  standard. 

In  line  8.  page  58.  there  is  an  appropriation  for  hose  of  $12,000. 
We  asked  for  $18,000  and  the  House  reduced  the  appropriation  to 
$12,000.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  we  are  getting  fire  hose  now  for 
so  much  less  than  formerly.  I  think  that  that  reduction  on  the  part 
of  the  House  was  justified. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Is  there  a  reduction  in  the  price  of  hose^ 

Commissioner  Broavxlow.  Yes.  We  used  to  pay  $1.10  a  foot,  and 
we  are  now  paying  55  cents  or  54  cents  for  it. 

Senator  (tallixger.  How  do  you  account  for  that? 

Col.  KuTz.  We  have  modified  the  specifications  somewhat.  I  do 
not  mean  to  say  that  the  55-cent  hose  is  as  good  as  the  $1.10  hose,  but 
I  think  it  is  cheaper  at  55  cents  than  the  other  is  at  $1.10.  We 
changed  our  specifications  in  connection  with,  and  under  the  advice 
of.  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  and  they  make  the  tests.  I  think  we  are 
getting  fairly  good  hose  at  55  cents. 

Senator  (iallixger.  That  is  what  Ave  have  been  looking  fer  for  a 
long  time — something  that  is  reduced  in  ])rice.  That  is  what  attracted 
my  attention.  Is  this  a  reduction  in  the  price  of  the  hose  or  is  it 
due  to  the  fact  that  you  are  buying  cheaper  hose? 

Commissioner  Xeavmax.  It  is  oAving  to  the  fact  that  Ave  standard- 
ized our  specifications  in  conference  Avith  the  Bureau  of  Standards 
and  the  National  Board  of  Fire  I'nderAvriters.  Avhich  made  it  possible 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPPJATION    BILL,  1917.  115 

for  all  the  other  manufacturers  to  bid.  Prior  to  that  the  require- 
ments were  such  under  the  specifications  that  the  bidding  was  limited 
to  one  manufacturer. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  did  not  get  any  competition, 
then? 

Commissioner  Newman.  The  real  reason  lies  in  the  modification  of 
the  specifications. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  In  the  modification  of  the  specifi- 
cations ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  This  was  a  specially  made  hose  with  a 
specially  woven  jacket. 

ADDITIONAL   MOTOR-DRIVEN   APPARATUS. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  We  are  buying  the  hose  now  from  the 
same  manufacturer,  but  it  is  a  different  hose. 

The  commissioners  had  a  great  many  requests  from  citizens  and 
citizens'  associations  and  other  parties  asking  us  to  estimate  for 
addition  fire-engine  houses  in  various  sections  of  the  city  which 
were  not  now,  in  their  opinion,  adequately  protected  from  fire.  The 
commissioners,  in  going  over  the  matter,  decided  that  rather  than 
build  new  engine  houses  it  would  be  better  to  more  rapidly  eliminate 
the  horse-drawn  apparatus  and  substitute  motor-drawn  apparatus. 

There  was  also  a  demand  for  an  increase  in  the  number  of  fire- 
men. We  thought  that  also  could  be  met  by  the  substitution  of 
motor  vehicles.  A  fire  company  is  composed  of  seven  men.  and  with 
horse-driven  apparatus  one  man  has  to  hold  the  horses.  With  motor- 
driven  apparatus  that  man  is  released  for  duty  at  the  fire;  so  that 
every  time  you  put  in  a  motor-driven  apparatus  in  place  of  a  horse- 
driven  apparatus  you  add  one  man  to  the  effective  force. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Without  increasing  the  appropria- 
tion ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Without  increasing  the  appropriation. 
It  adds  to  the  effective  force. 

Then,  the  range  of  operations  of  the  motor-driven  apparatus  is  so 
much  wider  that  we  believe  that  the  motorization  was  better  than 
providing  additional  firemen;  so  that  we  ask 'for  more  than  we  had 
asked  formerly,  although  Washington  is  well  behind  other  cities  in 
the  process  of  motorization.  We  asked  for  two  fire  engines,  motor 
driven,  instead  of  one;  we  asked  for  eight  combination  chemical  and 
hose  wagons,  motor  driven,  of  which  the  House  allowed  four;  we 
asked  for  six  tractors,  motor  driven,  of  which  the  House  allowed 
three.  The  tractors,  as  you  know,  are  designed  to  take  the  place  of 
horses  for  propelling  steam  fire  engines.  Then  we  asked  for  three 
aerial  hook-and-ladder  trucks,  motor  driven,  of  which  they  gave  us 
one.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  commissioners  were  wrong  in  advo- 
cating the  more  rapid  motorization  of  the  fire  department.  I  be- 
lieve it  is  the  modern  thing;  it  is  in  line  with  what  other  cities  are 
doing.  Washington  is  slower  than  other  cities  have  been.  Some 
cities  have  motorized  their  fire  departments  in  one,  two,  or  three 
years;  but  it  will  require,  even  on  the  bases  we  have  gone  on,  several 
years  for  complete  motorization  in  Washington. 

Commissioner  Newman.  As  we  are  fixed  at  present,  with  less  than 
one-half  of  the  department  motorized;  we  still  have  to  maintain  a 


116   •  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

sufficient  number  of  horses,  so  that  vre  have  not  j^et  begun  to  get 
into  the  economy  that  there  will  be  in  the  saving  of  horse  mainte- 
nance. 

Commissioner  Brownlov,-.  To  some  extent  we  have. 

Commissioner  Neavman.  Yes;  to  some  extent:  but  not  to  such  an 
extent  as  would  be  possible  if  we  did  this  more  rapidly.  For  in- 
stance, a  motor  engine  standing  in  the  station  house  does  not  con- 
sume any  gasoline  except  Avhen  it  is  running,  but  the  horses  that  haul 
the  wagons,  which  are  standing  in  the  station  house,  of  course  con- 
sume feed  all  the  time. 

Senator  Dillingham.  What  proportion  of  the  fire  apparatus  is 
now  motor  driven? 

Commissioner  Browxlow,  "What  we  ask  for  will  bring  it  up  to  a 
little  more  than  one-half. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  It  is  about  one-third  now. 

Commissioner  Broavnloav.  It  is  about  one-third  now.  The  reduc- 
tions are  beginning  to  appear  in  this  bill.  We  have  $8,000.  instead 
of  $10,000,  as  last  3'ear,  for  the  iDurchase  of  horses.  There  in  lines  4, 5, 
and  6,  on  page  58,  are  three  of  those  reductions  for  which  you  have 
been  seeking.  Senator  Gallinger. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes:  it  is  very  gratifying.  Because  of  the 
width  of  the  streets  in  Washington  and  the  comparative  ease  of  get- 
ting around  in  the  city,  do  we  have  less  fires  than  other  cities  of  the 
same  size:  I  mean  are  they  less  destructive? 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  They  are  less  destructive.  Then  I 
think  a  part  of  that  is  due  to  the  fact  that  we  do  have  a  very  excel- 
lent fire  de])artment. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  Xow  that  the  city  is  growing  so  rapidly 
into  the  suburbs,  there  is  this  demand  for  new  engine  houses  and 
more  firemen,  and  it  will  be  much  more  economical  to  meet  that  de- 
mand by  means  of  motor-driven  vehicles  than  by  an  extension  of 
the  fire  department. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  is  unquestionably  true. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Xow  we  come  to  the  health  depart- 
ment. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  Dr.  Woodward,  the  health  officer,  will 
tell  you  about  that. 

HEALTH  DEPARTMENT. 

STATEMENT  OF  DR.  S.  W.  WOODWARD.  HEALTH  OFFICER  OF  THE 
DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 

IXCREA8E  IX   PAT  OF   CLERK. 

Dr.  Woodward,  The  first  item  submitted  by  the  commissioners 
and  omitted  in  the  House  was  an  increase  of  $200  in  the  salar}^  of  the 
clerk  who  now  receives  $1,400  a  year.  It  is  proposed  to  increase  his 
salary  to  $1,600.  He  ranks  next  to  the  chief  clerk  of  the  department, 
and  assumes  the  duties  of  the  chief  clerk  when  the  chief  clerk  is 
absent,  and  he  has  general  charge  of  the  correspondence  and  files  of 
the  department.  He  is  a  very  capable  and  faithful  man,  and  has 
been  with  us  since  1900,  a  Mr.  Sumter  Phillips. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  117 

ADDITIONAL  CLEUK. 

An  estimate  for  a  new  clerk  at  $900  was  submitted  b,y  the  commis- 
sioners in  order  to  release  for  field  service  a  food  inspector.  The 
chief  food  inspector  now  has  no  one  to  assist  him  in  a  clerical  way 
except  an  inspector  who  is  assigned  for  that  purpose,  which  throAvs  a 
large  amount  of  clerical  work  in  connection  with  our  food  service 
on  him,  owing  to  the  number  of  dairy  farms  scattered  throughout 
the  adjacent  States,  and  some  of  them  even  more  remote,  a  lai'ge 
part  of  the  work  of  which  is  by  correspondence.  Of  course,  we  have 
the  inspectors  in  the  field,  but  the  office  has  to  deal  with  them  bv 
letter. 

ASSISTANT  CHIEF  SANITARY  INSPECTOR    (NEW). 

The  suggestion  that  we  create  the  position  of  an  assistant  chief 
sanitary  inspector  with  compensation  at  the  rate  of  $1,400  per 
annum,  reducing  the  number  of  $1,200  inspectors  by  one  in  order  to 
do  so.  is  based  on  the  fact  that  there  is  among  the  group  of  sanitary 
inspectors  always  and  necessarily  some  one  man  a  little  more  capable 
than  the  rest.  who.  during  the  absence  of  the  chief  sanitary  inspector, 
must  assume  his  duties  and  must  help  in  some  of  the  more  important 
work.  The  particular  inspector  we  would  like  to  promote  is  a  Mr. 
Butt,  a  man  who  is  a  graduate  of  laAv  and  a  member  of  the  District 
bar  and  of  the  Maryland  bar.  and  who  is  able  to  search  titles  and  do 
work  of  that  kind  when  examinations  are  necessary.  "  Of  course, 
commonly  we  rely  on  the  records  of  the  assessor's  office.  In  some 
cases,  however,  it  is  necessary  to  go  beyond  that,  and  work  of  that 
kind  is  assigned  to  Mr.  Butt.  Mr.  Butt  has  been  with  us  a  number 
of  years  and  is  a  very  faithful  and  competent  man. 

ADDITIONAL  SANITARY  INSPECTOR. 

The  proposal  to  increase  the  number  of  $900  inspectors  from  two 
to  three  is  based  soleh^  on  a  desire  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the 
service.  We,  of  course,  have  an  increasing  population  and  a  more 
widespread  population  than  heretofore,  and  the  work  of  the  inspec- 
tion service  is  increased  greatly. 

The  commissioners  have  submitted  a  recommendation  for  the  crea- 
tion of  the  position  of  chief  food  inspector  with  a  compensation  at 
the  rate  of  $2,000  a  year.  At  the  present  time  the  chief  food  in- 
spector receives  $1,500  a  year,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  find  a  man 
who  is  willing  to  assume  the  duties  of  that  office,  and  who  is  qualified 
to  do  so,  for  the  salary  provided.  This  work  includes  not  only  the 
general  supervision  of  our  stores  and  our  markets  within  the  city, 
but.  of  course,  all  our  restaurants  and  lunch  rooms,  and  the  slaughter- 
houses in  town,  and  then  of  the  eniue  number  of  farms  from  which 
the  milk  supply  of  the  District  is  obtained.  It  takes  a  nuin  of  some 
technical  knowledge.  He  ought  either  to  he  a  graduate  veterinarian 
or  a  graduate  of  a  dairy  school,  and  it  takes  a  man  of  some  executive 
ability  and  some  address,  who  can  meet  the  public  and  the  farmers, 
to  do  the  work  properly. 

The  man  who  now  holds  that  position  is  a  man  who  has  been  pro- 
moted from  the  ranks,  who  is  faithful  and  willing,  but  is  not  qualified 


118  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

for  the  work  which  he  is  doing.     ^Ye  ought  to  have  an  adeijuate 
salary  to  get  us  a  proper  man. 

ASSISTANT  CHIEF  FOOD   INSPECTOR    (NEW). 

As  to  the  next  item,  there  is  a  projiosal  here  to  provide  an  assistant 
chief  food  inspector  at  $1,400.  and  if  provision  be  made  for  these  two 
positions  my  idea  would  be  to  reduce  to  $1,100  Mr.  Wilson,  who  is  at 
the  present  time  serving  as  chief  food  inspector,  leaving  him  in  the 
position  of  assistant  chief  food  inspector. 

■       ADDITIONAL  LABORER. 

There  is  an  item  providing  for  an  increase  in  the  number  of  skilled 
laborers  at  $600  from  one  to  two.  That  is  simply  based  on  the  in- 
creased work  of  the  bacteriological  laboratory  and  the  necessity  for 
getting  a  man  who  can  do  some  of  the  rougher  work  and  releasing  the 
$720  skilled  laborer  for  some  of  the  more  important  laboring  work, 
if  3'ou  may  call  it  so,  in  the  bacteriological  laboratory. 

The  recommendation  that  the  title  of  '*  driver "'  be  changed  to 
"  chauffeur  "  is  based  on  the  fact  that  he  is  now  driving  an  automo- 
bile, and  simply  on  that.  The  recommendation  that  his  salary  be 
increased  from  $G00  to  $720  a  year  is  based  on  the  greater  responsi- 
bility and,  you  might  say,  the  greater  technical  skill  that  a  chauffeur 
requires  vrhen  he  cares  for  his  own  machine. 

Senator  Smith  cf  Maryland.  You  have  a  chauffeur  now  at  $600 
a  year? 

Dr.  "Woodward.  $600.  He  is  the  man  who  drove  the  horse-drawn 
vehicle  for  the  sanitary  food  inspectors.  He  has  simply  been  in- 
structed in  the  care  and  use  of  the  machine. 

Senator  Simith  of  Maryland.  Can  you  hire  a  competent  chauffeur 
at  $50  a  month  ? 

Dr.  Woodavard.  I  have.  I  would  not  trust  a  machine  of  my  own, 
if  I  had  one,  to  a  man  of  that  kind.  This  man  is  faithful  and  has 
been  in  the  office  about  25  years.  I  think,  and  does  his  v^'ork  faithfully. 

Mr.  SaiiTH  of  Maryland.  Does  he  take  care  of  his  own  machine  in 
an  ordinary  Avay? 

Dr.  Woodward.  Yes,  sir.  Seven  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  per 
annum,  I  understand,  is  the  minimum  sum  jiaid  other  chauffeur^'  r\f 
other  departments  here  of  the  Government. 

INCREASE  IN  SALARY  OF  POUNDMASTER. 

The  proposal  to  increase  the  salary  of  the  ]:)0undmaster  to  $1,100 
is  based  u])on  the  fact  that  that  was  formerly  the  salary  of  the  posi- 
tion.    That  is  the  chief  item  there. 

Senator  S:mith  of  Maryland.  Why  was  it  reduced? 

Dr.  WooDWAiM).  It  was  reduced  by  one  of  the  committees  of  Con- 
gress or  by  Congress. 

Senator  Galltxoer.  The  House  seems  to  have  allowed  it  this  year, 
but  it  went  out  on  the  ]>oint  of  order. 

Commissioner  Brownloav.  It  Avas  allowed? 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPKIATION    BILL,  1917.  119 

ASSISTANT  rOl  Nim  ASTER    (  NEW  ) . 

Dr.  Wooi)\\  AKi).  The  leciiiest  was  iiuule  for  an  assistant  [)()uii(l- 
master.  I  think  that  is  desirable,  even  though  we  provide  a  sahiry 
merely  of  i^l'IO  a  year,  so  as  to  give  us  some  one  who  can  assume  the 
duties  of  the  pounthnaster  in  his  absence,  not  merely  when  he  is  sick 
or  on  leave,  but  when  he  happens  to  be  in  the  field.  The  pound  service 
involves  two  important  features.  One  is  the  actual  impounding  of 
clogs  in  the  city  and  the  other  is  the  custody  of  the  dogs  and  the  re- 
lease of  the  dogs  while  he  is  acting,  so  that  we  ought  to  have  some 
one  more  than  a  $600-a-year  laborer  to  look  after  the  pound  when 
the  poundmaster  is  out  with  the  wagon. 

There  is  another  question  which  is  liable  to  arise,  and  that  is  that 
the  law  specifically  provides  that  those  dogs  not  released  shall  be 
sold  or  destroyed,  as  the  poundmaster  thinks  advisable,  placing  in 
him  that  discretion.  There  is.  of  course,  in  the  absence  of  any  author- 
ity for  some  one  else  to  assume  the  place  of  the  poundmaster,  some 
possibility  of  legal  difficulties  during  such  time  as  the  poundmaster 
may  be  absent  or  disabled  by  illness.  Some  one  hrts  got  to  make  that 
determination. 

PREVEXTION  OF  CONTAGIOUS  DISEASES. 

Coming,  now.  to  the  provision  for  the  contagious-disease  service^ 
we  find  that  on  page  (iO.  in  line  3.  there  is  a  provision  that  the  amount 
expended  for  personal  services  shall  not  exceed  $12,000  a  year.  The 
commissioners  have  asked,  and  the  health  officer  has  repeatedly  urged, 
that  that  be  eliminated  or.  at  least,  increased.  We  are  receiving  now 
$25,000  per  annum,  and  of  that  we  can  expend  only  $12,000  for  per- 
sonal services,  the  rest  going  for  incidental  expenses.  It  gives  us  an 
undue  amount,  we  may  say.  for  incidental  expenses,  as  we  continually 
turn  back  into  the  Treasury  something  of  that,  under  ordinary  condi- 
tions: but  it  does  not  give  us  enough  for  personal  services,  and  the 
result  is  that  we  have  to  piece  out  this  appropriation  year  after  year 
by  drafts  on  the  emergency  fund  to  pay  for  the  contagious-disease 
service.  It  is  not  desirable,  it  seems  to  me.  to  be  driven  to  that.  We 
have  this  work  that  we  are  required  by  law  to  do.  and  if  we  do  not 
do  it  there  will  be.  I  should  say.  certainly  an  increase  of  disease,  and 
possibly  of  death,  in  the  District.  An  emergency  arising,  the  commis- 
sioners use  the  emergency  fund. 

Commissioner  Bi{o\vnlow\  It  was  necessary  only  yesterday  to  draw 
on  the  emergency  fund  for  $2,000  to  complete  the  payment  for  this 
current  year. 

Dr.  Woodward.  And.  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  are  able  to  go  as  far 
as  we  can  with  this  $12,000  only  by  assigning  to  our  regular  sanitaiy 
inspectors  some  of  the  work  of  the  contagious-disease  service.  The 
placarding  of  houses  for  diphtheria  and  scarlet  fever  and  the  collect- 
ing of  data  Avith  respect  to  our  cases  of  typhoid  fever  are  not  done  by 
medical  men  or  trained  nurses  but  are  done  by  the  ordinary  sanitary 
inspector,  who  goes  to  the  house  and  does  thejbest  he  can.  If  we  did 
not  do  that,  there  would  be  more  serious  inroads  in  the  emergency 
fund  than  there  are.  We  have  asked,  going  down  now  to  line  10.  for 
an  increase  in  the  total  amount  of  this  appropriation  to  $30,000, 


120  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

that  is  to  enable  lis  to  do  more  intensive  work  in  respect  to  tubercu- 
losis, and  to  relieve  the  sanitary  inspectors  of  this  city  of  collecting 
the  data  regarding  typhoid  fever,  and  of  the  duty  of  placarding 
houses,  and  work  of  that  kind.  That  is  work  that  can  be  best  done  by 
a  physician  or  a  trained  nurse,  and  unless  we  have  an  increase  in  our 
total  appropriation,  we  can  not  accomplish  all  that  we  ought  to  ac- 
complish. Of  course,  if  the  $12,000  limitation  is  stricken  out,  we  can 
relieve  the  sanitary  inspectors  of  some  of  their  Avork  with  respect  to 
the  contagious-disease  service,  doing  as  we  did  before;  but  it  will  be 
impossible  for  us  to  do  any  broader  or  more  intensive  work  with  re- 
spect to  the  matter  of  tuberculosis. 

PAY  OF  BACTERIOLOGIST. 

Then  we  ask  also  that  the  limitation  in  line  11,  on  page  GO,  to  $6  a 
day,  in  the  amount  to  be  paid  to  the  bacteriologist,  be  stricken  out. 
Tlie  present  bacteriologist  is  Dr.  Joseph  J.  Kinyoun.  who  has  been 
w^ith  ns  a  great  many  years  and  who  receives  this  $6  a  day  from  the 
contagious-disease  service  as  bacteriologist  of  the  health  department. 
He  also  holds  the  position  of  pathologist  in  the  tuberculosis  hospital, 
for  which  he  receives  $300  annual  salary. 

Commissioner  Browxloav.  May  I  interrupt  you  here? 

Dr.  Woodward.  Certainly. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  In  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judi- 
cial appropriation  bill,  approved  May  10,  this  year,  the  last  section, 
section  6,  provides  as  follows : 

Si-x.  G.  That  unless  otherwise  specinUy  nuthm-ized  by  law  no  money  appro- 
priated by  this  or  any  other  act  shall  be  available  for  payment  to  any  person, 
re<-eivinfr"niore  than  one  salary  when  the  combined  amount  of  said  salaries  ex- 
ceeds the  sum  of  ?;2,tK»0  per  annum,  but  this  shall  not  apply  to  retired  officers  of 
Army,  Navy,  or  :Marine  Corps  whenever  they  may  be  appointed  or  elected  to 
public  office  or  whenever  the  President  sliall  appoint  them  to  office  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  or  to  officers  and  enlisted  men  of  the 
Organized  Militia  and  Naval  :\Iilitia  in  tlu-  several  .States.  Territories,  and  the 
District  of  Columbia. 

Under  this  law  Dr.  Kinyoun  could  not  receive  that  salary  of  $300 
from  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital.  That  also  affects  a  number  of  school- 
teacher.s  in  the  District:  but  that  will  come  up  later  in  connection 
with  the  schools  when  the  board  of  education  in  heard. 

Dr.  Woodward.  Quite  aside  from  the  necessary  reduction  in  Dr. 
Kinyoun's  pay,  owing  to  the  i)rovision  inserted  in  that  act,  I  should 
sa,y  that  as  a  bacteriologist  of  years  of  experience,  and  his  standing, 
and  in  view  of  the  amount  of  work  he  does  and  the  responsibility  he 
assumes,  he  is  worth  more  than  $2,500  a  year.  He  is  a  man  of  the 
liighest  standing,  a  man  of  absolute  loyalty  to  the  service,  going  l)e- 
yond,  you  might  say.  what  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  do  in  order  to 
do  his  best. 

Senator  S:\nTii  of  Maryland.  Has  ho  any  other  revenue  from  his 
practice,  in  any  Avay  < 

Dr.  Woodward,  He  dees.  I  imagine,  some  laboratoi-y  work  in  the 
way  of  examinaticms — not  of  sputa,  because  all  of  that  is  done  free 
here — of  s})ecimenp  of  cancer,  or  he  does  a  Wasserman  test,  or  some- 
thing of  that  kind,  for  compensation,  but  certainly  not  to  any  large 
amount. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  121 

Senator  Smitpi  of  Maryland.  He  gives  most  of  his  attention  to 
this  work? 

Dr.  WooDWAijD.  Oh,  yes.  He  has  very  little  time  for  the  other 
Avork.  He  works  every  day  in  the  year,  of  course,  365  days,  except 
Avhen  he  is  on  leaAe,  as  is  rendered  necessary  by  the  nature  of  his 
duties. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  old  a  man  is  he?  How  long 
has  he  been  practicing  ? 

Dr.  WooDAVARD.  He  is  a  man  of,  I  should  say,  03  or  04  years  of  age. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  of  large  experience  in  his  pro- 
fession ? 

Dr.  WooDAVARD.  Yes,  sir.  He  Avas  in  the  United  States  Public 
Health  Service  for  a  Avhile,  and,  in  fact,  is  the  founder,  so  to  speak,  of 
the  Hygienic  Laboratory  of  that  service.  You  may  identify  him  as 
the  member  of  the  corps  Avho  Avas  sent  to  California  and  found  plague 
in  the  very  beginning,  and  raised  such  a  disturbance  there  by  reason 
of  the  finding  of  plague  that  he  Avas  sent  to  another  port,  sent  to 
Detroit,  and  served  his  term  there;  and  it  was  not  laboratory  Avork, 
it  was  not  Avork  to  his  taste,  and  he  resigned  from  that  service  and 
Avent  to  work  in  the  service  of  Mulford  &  Co.,  one  of  the  large 
manufacturers  of  sera  and  toxins,  and  he  resigned  from  there  to 
come  to  us.  He  is  a  man  of  very  large  experience  and  extremely 
capable. 

REPAIR  OF  BLaLDINGS  ON  RESERVATION    NO.    13. 

The  next  item  that  is  omitted  is  a  request  for  repairs  to  buildings 
occupied  by  the  health  department  on  reserA'ation  Xo.  13,  $2,500. 
That  is  based  on  an  estimate  by  the  municipal  architect. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  line  and  page  are  you  on 
noAv,  Doctor? 

Dr.  WooDAVARD.  That  is  an  item  that  Avas  eliminated  altogether. 
It  ap]:)ears  in  a  slip  pasted  at  the  right-hand  side  of  page  60  of  the 
bill.  That  item  should  come  in  folloAving  line  IT,  page  60.  That  is 
based  on  estimates  submitted  by  the  municipal  architect,  and  the 
sum  Avill  be  expended  largely  on  the  municipal  crematorium.  There 
seems  to  be  need  for  extensive  repairs  to  the  foundations  of  that 
building  and  other  repairs,  so  that  I  judge  from  Avhat  I  learn  from 
the  municipal  architect  that  it  is  practically  necessary  that  Ave  haA'e 
that  amount.  Such  balance  as  may  remain  Avill  be  available  for  the 
ordinary  incidental  repairs  to  our  other  buildings  on  the  reserva- 
tion— that  is,  the  smallpox  hospital,  the  quarantine  station,  the  dis- 
infecting plant,  and  the  leper  home. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  But  j^ou  have  confined  this  to  reser- 
Aation  No.  13. 

Dr.  AVooDAVARD.  Those  buildings  are  all  on  that  reservation — the 
old  Avorkhouse  reservation.  But  I  should  say  that  the  largest  part 
of  that,  or  probably  as  much  as  $2,000,  Avill  be  expended  on  the 
crematorium,  Avhere  Ave  destroy  the  dead  bodies  of  the  poor  and  the 
dead  bodies  of  the  rich  Avhen  they  are  Avilling  to  pay. 


122  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

REFUSE    IXCINERATOR    FOR    SMALLPOX    HOSPITAL    AND     QUARANTINE 
STATION. 

There  was  a  request  also  for  a  refuse  incinerator  for  the  smallpox 
hospital  and  the  quarantine  station.  $500,  which  immediately  fol- 
lowed that  item.  It  has  been  the  custom  for  years  past  to  take  the 
refuse  from  those  two  institutions  and  take  it  down  to  the  margin 
of  the  Eastern  Branch :  after,  of  course,  proper  disinfection.  Per- 
sons do  not  want  to  take  garbage  and  old  dressings,  etc..  from  the 
smallpox  hospital  and  mix  it  with  the  general  refuse,  even  though 
it  is  disinfected.  Xow,  with  the  reclamation  of  the  Aanacostia  flats 
and  the  conversion  of  those  flats  into  land,  and  the  land  into  a  park, 
we  will  be  without  any  proper  means  of  disposing  of  it  unless  this 
is  provided. 

DRAINAGE  OF  LOTS  AND  ABATEMENT  OF  NUISANCES. 

The  item  extending  from  line  23,  on  page  60,  to  line  4.  on  page  61, 
providing  for  the  enforcement  of  the  provisions  of  an  act  to  provide 
for  the  drainage  of  lots  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  also  an  act 
to  provide  for  the  abatement  of  nuisances  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
by  the  commissioners,  and  for  other  purposes,  has  been  decreased  from 
$1,500.  the  amount  heretofore  appropriated  and  the  amount  esti- 
mated, to  $1,000. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  have  been  setting  $1,500.  and 
they  cut  it  down  to  $1,000? 

Dr.  AYooDAVARD.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  you  feel  that  1,000  would  not  be 
sufficient  ( 

Dr.  Woodward.  I  do  not  believe  it  allows  us  a  safe  margin.  This 
apjjropriation  covers  not  only  the  work  of  the  health  department, 
Init  the  work  of  all  other  branches  of  the  District  government.  The 
act  referred  to  there  as  an  act  to  provide  for  the  abatement  of 
nuisances  in  the  District  of  Columbia  by  the  commissioners,  author- 
ized the  commissioners  in  any  case  where  a  nuisance,  or  any  other  con- 
dition that  might  not  be  regarded  as  a  nuisance,  exists  on,  or  arises 
from,  real  property,  for  which  condition  the  owner  is  responsible,  to 
correct  the  nuisance  and  to  assess  the  cost  against  the  property. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Has  there  been  any  surplus  of  the 
amount  that  has  been  appropriated? 

Dr.  WooDAVARD.  There  has  l)een  a  surplus  from  year  to  year.  But 
that,  of  course,  is  turned  back;  and  even  the  money  that  is  expended 
comes  back  from  year  to  year  in  the  Avay  of  assessments. 

Senator  Smith.  How  much  has  the  surplus  been.  Doctor? 

Dr.  WooDAVARD.  I  think  that  will  shoAv  in  the  estimates.  The  sur- 
plus has  been  considerable  at  times.  I  can  not  explain  why  there 
rliould  have  been  any  surplus,  because  T  know  that  there  have  .been 
continually  before  us.  or  continually  before  the  inspector  of  ]:)lumbing, 
1  should  say,  a  number  of  cases  in  which  an  effort  was  being  made  to 
aboli'^h  box  privies  and  connect  the  premises  with  the  sewer  and 
v^•ater  main,  a  number  of  such  cases  sufficient  to  use  up  that  $500  at 
any  moment,  practically. 


DISTBICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  123 

8eiiat(u-  S:mitii  of  Mni'vland.  At  the  same  time,  it  has  not  been  used, 
and  it  does  not  look  jiistitiable.  if  it  has  not  been  used,  that  a  smaller 
amcinit  shoidd  be  a])i)ro])i'iated  ^ 

Dr.  Woodward.  It  looks  justifiable  on  the  face  of  it.  But  if  lie 
sends  notices  out  to  the  nonresidents  saving.  "  Unless  you  connect  up 
your  property  within  80  days  after  this  notice,  the  District  of 
Columbia  will  make  the  connections  and  assess  the  costs,"  of  course, 
he  should  have  the  money  back  of  it  to  make  his  word  good,  other- 
wise his  Avord  is  worth  nothing.  It  happens  that  when  he  has  sent 
out  the  notices  these  nonresident  owners  have  written  to  their  agents 
here  and  said.  "  Go  ahead  and  make  the  connections."  but  in  that 
way  he  is  never  able  to  tell  at  any  particular  time  how  much  money 
he  will  need.  Then,  of  course,  it  serves  as  a  reserve  fund— an 
emergency  fund,  if  you  will — whereby  other  improvements  than 
under  our  sanitary  laws  can  be  enforced.  I  say  again  that  the  action 
of  the  House  looks  entire!}^  reasonable  on  its  face;  we  may  neA^er 
need  that  $1,500.  but  it  is  a  safeguard  betAveen  the  enforcement  of 
laAv  and  the  nonenforcement. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  An  emergency  might  arise  Avhere 
you  would  need  the  Avhole  of  it  I 

Dr.  "WooDAVARD.  It  might. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  if  you  did  not  have  the 
money 

Dr.  WooDAVARD.  Under  some  conditions  Ave  could  fall  back  on  the 
emergency  fund,  I  am  quite  sure;  but  conceivably  there  are  condi- 
tions relating  to  private  property  Avhere  the  emergency  fund  would 
not  be  available.  I  do  not  lay  any  great  stress  on  that  reduction.  I 
do  not  think  it  is  of  A-ital  importance,  as  it  is  altogether  a  matter  of 
surmise  as  to  what  we  Avill  need. 

BACTERIOLOGICAL    LABORATORY. 

In  line  10.  on  page  01.  there  is  an  appropriation  of  $500  for  the 
bacteriological  laboratory.     The  commissioners'  estimate  Avas  $1,000. 
Senator  Dillingham.  That  is  for  the  purchase  of  books? 
Dr.  WooDAVARD.  It  reads: 

Chemical  laboratory :  For  maintaining:  and  keeping  in  good  order,  and  for 
the  purchase  of  reference  books  and  scientific  periodicals,  $500. 

Senator  Smith.  You  haA'e  been  alloAved  heretofore  $1,000? 

Dr.  WooDAA'ARD.  We  are  alloAved  this  year  $1,000. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Has  that  proven  to  be  too  much? 

Dr.  WooDAVARD.  Xo.  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Why  Avas  it  cut  doAvn  ? 

Dr.  WooDAVARD.  I  do  not  knoAv.  sir.  I  should  say  we  Avere  liable 
to  need  more  rather  than  less,  because  of  the  high  price  of  laboratory 
supplies.  There  will  be  the  probable  impossibility  of  getting  certain 
supplies  from  abroad  and  everything  is  expensive,  and  then,  of 
course,  there  is  the  constant  Avear  and  tear  on  the  laboratory  appa- 
ratus and  an  increase  rather  than  a  decrease  in  the  cost  of  replacing 
it  and  keeping  it  in  repair. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  language,  "maintaining  and  keeping  in 
good  order,"  includes  the  purchase  of  materials,  does  it? 

Dr.  AVooDAVARD.  The  purchase  of  materials  and  repairs.  It,  of 
course.  Avould  not  alloAv  any  extension  of  the  laboratory  equipment, 
but  what  we  haA-e  we  can  keep  in  proper  order. 


124  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL^  1917. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Would  it  not  be  ^Yell  to  put  in, 
"  For  the  purchase,  maintaining,  and  keeping  in  order  "  ? 

Senator  Gallinger.  Could  you  tell  ol!'hand.  Doctor,  what  pro- 
portion of  this  appropriation  was  used  for  the  purchase  of  refer- 
ence books  and  scientific  periodicals?  I  apprehend  that  the  House 
committee  may  have  reduced  that  upon  the  assumption  that  you 
do  not  need  as  much  from  year  to  year,  as  you  are  filling  your  li- 
brary up,  and  you  would  not  need  as  much  this  year  as  last  year? 

Dr.  Woodward.  In  1915  we  had  other  appropriations.  We  had 
$300. 

Col.  KuTz.  The  amount  in  1916  was  $1,000. 

Dr.  Woodward.  In  1915  we  tried  to  get  along  with  $300. 

Col.  KuTz.  There  were  no  books  at  all  purchased  in  1915. 

Dr.  Woodward.  No;  I  have  here  the  estimate  of  that  item  which 
appears  in  the  Book  of  Estimates  for  1917.     It  is  as  follows: 

Estimated,  1917. 

[Statemont  reqiiirccl  by  sec.  10  of  sundry  civil  act  approved  Aug.  1,  1914.] 

Peptone,  chemicals,  stains,  nutrient  media,  cotton,  etc $350.  00 

Cliemical  glassware,  beakers,  test  tubes,  culture  dishes,  and  flasks 100.  00 

Chemical  apparatus  for  water  collection,  pipettes,  burettes,  thermom- 
eters   4 150.  00 

Photographic  plates  and  paper,  developer;  etc 35.  00 

Alcohols    25.  00 

Cleaning   materials   20.  00 

Electric    motor 25.00 

Repairs,    etc    85.00 

Replacement  of  electric  lamps 25.00 

Projection   apparatus    35.  00 

Microscopic  objective  and  eyepieces 30.00 


1,  000.  00 

There  is  no  appropriation  for  books. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  There  do  not  seem  to  be  included 
in  that  estimate  any  periodicals  or  books  of  reference. 

Dr.  Woodward.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  that  amounted  to  how  much? 

Dr.  Woodward.  $1,000." 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  That  Avhole  amount  was  used,  ex- 
clusive of  any  purchase  of  books  or  periodicals? 

Dr.  Woodward.  No;  that  is  what  the  present  item  comprises. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  In  that  $1,000  you  have  included 
nothing  for  books  and  periodicals? 

Dr.  Woodward.  There  would  be  some  books  and  periodicals  pur- 
chased. I  know  we  do  get  some  of  the  foreign  periodicals  relating 
to  laboratory  work  and  some  American  ones. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  But  in  your  estimate  there  .you  have 
not  included  anything  for  books  or  periodicals? 

CHEMICAL  laboratory. 

Dr.  Woodward.  No,  sir.  Now,  with  resjiect  to  the  following  item, 
lines  11  to  13.  page  01,  for  the  chemical  laboratory,  the  commis- 
sioners there  requested  an  increase  in  the  appropriation  from  $500 
to  $1,000,  but  the  House  retained  it  at  $500.     The  increase  there  is 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  125 

based  on  the  fact  that  durinii-  the  past  year  yve  hnxe  had  a  special 
appro]iriation  for  new  appai'atiis  and  a  special  appropriation  for 
replacements.  Hereafter,  for  the  next  year,  we  are  not  asking  those 
appropriations  for  new  apparatus  or  for  replacements;  but  any 
new  ajDparatns  purchased  or  replacements  that  are  made  will  have 
to  come  from  this  appropriation  for  maintainino-  and  keeping  in 
good  order,  etc.,  and  on  that  account  we  are  asking  that  we  be  allowed 
for  the  chemical  laboratory  the  same  amount  as  we  werp  allowed  for 
the  bacteriological  laboratory. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Do  you  not  think  that  that  language  can  be 
improved  and  made  more  specific  where  it  reads,  "For  maintaining 
and  keeping  in  good  order  "  ? 

Dr.  Woodward.  Yes.  sir. 

Senator  Galinger.  That  would  indicate  simply  taking  care  of  the 
laboratory.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  say :  "  For  maintaining  and 
keeping  in  good  order,  replacing  materials,  "and  for  the  purchase 
of  reference  books  and  scientific  periodicals,"  or  something  like 
that  ? 

Dr.  Woodward.  That  language  is  language  that  was  approved, 
or  was  borrowed  from  a  clause  in  the  appropriation  act  that  covers 
the  laboratory  of  the  inspector  of  asphalts  and  cements,  and  it  was 
submitted  to  the  auditor  for  his  consideration.  It  was  on  the  basis 
of  experience  that  he  recommended  it,  I  think. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  suppose  the  word  "  maintaining  " 
would  include  purchasing,  would  it  not  ? 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  should  think  it  likely ;  yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  To  maintain  would  be  to  renew,  I 
should  think. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  think  it  is  all  right  that  way. 

Dr.  Woodward.  We  found  that  the  inspector  of  asphalts  and 
cements  was  so  much  more  successful  in  getting  things  he  wanted  in 
his  laboratory  than  we  were  in  getting  things  we  wanted  in  ours  that 
Ave  borrowed  that  language  and  submitted  it  to  the  approval  of  the 
auditor.    It  is  a  broader  phraseology. 

PTJBLIC  crematory. 

Senator  Gallinger.  On  page  62  you  have  an  item  "  For  mainten- 
ance, including  personal  services,  of  the  public  crematory,  $2,000." 
The  other  item  we  passed  with  regard  to  the  crematory  was  for 
$2,500  and  this  is  for  $2,000.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  consider 
this  one,  probably. 

motor  wagon  for  pound  service  (new). 

Dr.  ^A^oodavard.  You  Avill  see  the  item  there  on  the  slip  pasted  on 
the  side  of  page  62,  "  For  the  purchase  of  one  motor  Avagon  for  use 
in  the  pound  seiwice,  at  a  cost  of  not  exceeding  $1,500;  and  for  main- 
taining and  operating  the  same  and  keeping  it  in  good  order,  $500; 
in  all.  $2,000." 

The  pound  service  operates  at  present  two  wagons  and  one  buggy, 
a  large  Avagon  for  impounding  animals — that  is,  picking  them  up 
as  they  are  caught  running  at  large — and  a  smaller  Avagon  for  collect- 
ing animals  that  are  to  be  surrendered  by  their  oAvners,  and  that  can 


126  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917 

not  be  taken  up  as  an  incident  to  the  ordinary  impounding  trips. 
JSIoreover,  when  the  hiriie  wagon  goes  out  for  the  purpose  of  im- 
l^ounding  animals  running  at  hirge.  it  is  necessary  for  the  pound- 
master  or  some  responsible  man  to  accompany  it,  in  order  to  see 
that  the  dogs  are  laAAfully  impounded.  That  means  that  we  main- 
tain three  vehicles  and  three  horses.  We  believe  that  by  installing 
a  single  motor  vehicle  we  could  do  away  with  two  of  the  vehicles 
and  two  of  the  horses.     We  believe  that  would  be  possible. 

►Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Would  that  result  in  economy,  sir? 

Dr.  AVooDWARD.  We  are  not  looking  for  very  much  in  the  way  of 
economy  except  as  more  efficient  service  for  a  given  amount  of  money 
can  be  called  economy. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  understand;  but  would  it  do  away 
with  tw^o  horses  and  tw^o  men  or  one  man? 

Dr.  Woodward.  It  would  not  do  away  with  one  man;  no.  We 
would  have  to  have  the  same  number  of  men.  The  two  wagons  never 
go  out  at  the  same  time.  We  w^ould  have  to  have  the  same  number  of 
employees,  but  this  one  wagon  would  be  able  to  do  the  work  of  the 
two  wagons  and  of  the  buggy.  The  only  real  occasion  for  any  but 
the  one  wagon  and  one  horse  we  reserve  is  to  meet  emergencies. 

Mr.  Smith  of  jMaryland.  What  would  you  do  with  the  man  who 
drove  the  other  w\Tgon? 

Dr.  Woodward.  They  do  not  go  out  at  the  same  time.  We  have 
four  laborers  in  the  pound,  and  they  have  to  care  for  the  pound  and 
take  care  of  the  four  wagons.  I  do  not  believe  that  we  could  claim 
much  in  the  Avay  of  saving  in  the  cost  of  operating  the  pound,  but  I 
do  believe  that  we  would  be  able  to  give  a  more  satisfactory  service. 

MOTOR   AMBULANCE   FOR   HEALTH    SERVICE    (NEW). 

Following  that  last  item  there  is  a  request  for  one  motor  ambulance. 
That  item  reads  as  follows: 

For  one  motor  ambulance,  at  a  cost  of  not  exceeding  $2,.500  and  for  equipping, 
maintaining,  and  operating  the  same,  and  Iceeping  it  in  good  order,  .$600;  in 
all,  .$.3,100.  ■ 

The  only  ambulance  service  that  the  health  department  operates 
is  for  cominunieable  diseases.  We  look  after  the  removal  to  the  con- 
tagious disease  hospital  of  all  persons  suffering  from  ordinary  com- 
municable diseases,  scarlet  fever  and  diphtheria  comprising  the 
bulk;  during  a  period  of  smallpox  outbreaks,  of  course,  we  see  to 
those.  AYe  believe  in  view  of  the  fact  that  this  ambulance  does  such 
uncertain  quantities  of  work,  we  would  get  along  better  with  that 
ambulance  than  we  could  with  the  two  ambulances  we  now  have. 
The  two  ambulances  simply  represent  an  ambulance  for  active  ser- 
vice, and  a  service  ambulance.  The  two  ambulances  may  stay  in  the 
stable  three  or  four  or  five  days  doing  nothing.  That  ambulance 
may  make  three  or  even  five  trips  in  a  single  day,  having  to  ^o  from 
one  extreme  of  the  District  of  Columbia  to  the  other.  Por  that 
reason  I  believe  that  with  no  increase  in  cost  we  Avould  be  able  to 
render  better  service. 

If  provided  with  a  motor  ambulance,  our  plan  would  be  to  retain 
one  of  the  ambulances  that  we  now  have,  but  not  to  retain  the  horses. 
Then  if  our  motor  ambulance  was  out  of  commission,  we  could  bor- 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1P17.  127 

row  horses  from  other  branches  of  the  District  government,  or  even 
hire,  in  order  that  the  i)iil)lic  might  be  served.  I  believe  that  the 
motor  ambuhuice  would  conduce  very  largely  to  the  comfort  and 
welfare  of  the  patients,  and  in  every  way  be  better. 

MAINTENANCE  OF   MOTOR   VEHICLE    FOR   SANITARY   AND   FOOD   INSPECTION 

SERVICE. 

Oil  page  Go.  at  the  top  of  the  page,  in  lines  1  and  -3.  we  have  a 
provision : 

For  maiiiteiiaiice  of  one  inotoi-  vehicle  for  tlie  sanirary  and  food  inspection 
service.  -fSOd. 

That  represents  a  reduction  of  $100  from  the  present  appropria- 
tion. In  view  of  the  increasing  age  of  the  vehicle,  and  in  view  of  the 
increased  price  of  gasoline.  I  think  the  least  we  could  ask  is  that  it 
be  left  at  $100.    This  vehicle  is  out  every  working  day  in  the  year. 

Senator  Sjiitii  of  Maryland.  This  includes  the  purchase  of  gaso- 
line, also  ? 

Dr.  Woodward.  Everything. 

Commissioner  Broavnlow.  In  making  out  the  estimates,  the  amount 
for  maintenance  of  a  private  vehicle  was  fixed  at  $300  a  year,  and 
it  may  be  that  inadvertently  this  item  was  affected  by  that  fact,  but 
it  was  our  purpose  in  setting  the  sum  to  be  allowed  for  a  private 
automobile  to  be  used  for  official  business  to  set  it  slightly  under  the 
actual  cost  so  as  not  to  encourage  unnecessary  use.  But  where  the 
car  is  used  for  District  purposes,  and  is  owned  and  maintained  by  the 
District.  $300  will  not  be  sufficient. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marjdand.  Then,  as  I  understand  from  Dr. 
Woodward,  this  Aehicle  is  in  service  all  the  time,  and  more  than 
those  you  ask  an  appropriation  of  $300  for. 

Commissioner  Brown  low.  I  do  not  know  that  it  renders  more 
service,  but  in  the  other  case  the  machine  is  owned  by  the  person 
and  is  not  a  District  machine:  and  if  $300  a  year  does  not  meet  the 
expense  he  must  pay  the  difference  himself.  The  assumption  is  that 
he  uses  the  machine  part  of  the  time  for  his  own  purposes. 

alterations  at  pound  and  stable. 

Dr.  Woodward,  The  next  item  is,  on  page  63,  lines  3  to  11 : 

For  alterations  at  the  pound  and  stable,  to  provide  accommodations  for 
motor  vehicles,  including  heating  apparatus  and  other  necessary  equipment, 
$1,000,  and  for  paving  the  inclosure  occupied  by  the  pound  and  stable,  $500; 
in  all,  $1,500. 

Then  there  is  a  provision  reappropriating  $1,000  that  was  appro- 
priated several  years  ago  for  a  metal  folding  shutter  for  the  wagon 
shed  at  the  pound.  There  Avas  a  reduction  there  by  the  House  from 
the  estimate  of  the  commissioners  of  $1,000,  and  as  the  estimate  was 
prepared  by  the  municipal  architect  it  seems  to  me  desirable  that 
we  have  appropriated  the  full  amount. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  reduction  is  $.")00,  is  it  not? 
They  have  given  you  $1,000,  and  you  asked  for  $1,500.  Five  hundred 
dollars  is  the  amount  of  the  reduction? 

Dr.  Woodward.  Yes. 


128  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Browxloav.  No;  there  was  an  estimate — we  asked 
for  $2,000. 

]Mr.  Sjiitii  of  Maryland.  It  should  be  $2,000;  yes.  It  was  $2,000 
for  paving-  and  necessary  alterations. 

Commissioner  BROw^'Low.  There  was  a  provision  at  the  end  of 
the  paragraph  as  submitted  by  the  commissioners  which  said : 

The  $1,000  thus  reappropriated  sliall  be  considered  and  constitute  a  part  of 
the  $2,000  aforesaid. 

So  that  there  seems  to  have  been  some  misunderstanding  with  w- 
spect  to  the  exact  relation  of  the  reappropriated  money  to  the  total 
appropriation. 

Senator  (tallinger.  It  has.  as  a  matter  of  fact,  nothing  to  do 
with  the   $2,000   ap]:>ropriated — that   reappropriated   money? 

Dr.  Woodward.  In  this  case? 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Dr,  Woodward,  No,  It  does  not  show  that  is  wdiat  it  is.  In  the 
other  case,  that  it  shall  constitute  a  part  of  the  $2,,500.  I  am  satis- 
fied from  my  knowledge  of  the  situation  at  the  pound  that  the  mu- 
nicipal architect's  estimate  is  extremely  reasonable;  and  if  we  are 
going  to  have  motor  vehicles,  or  even  for  the  sake  of  the  motor 
vehicles  we  now  have.  I  think  appropriation  should  be  made  to 
properly  house  them.  The  understanding  that  that  $1,000  reappro- 
priated is  not  in  addition  to  the  $1,500  appropriated  directly  in  the 
same  paragraph — the  commissioner's  estimate — is  there  met. 

Senator  Dillix(?ham.  It  is  also  made  available. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  Do  you  desire  to  speak  about  one  other 
thing;  that  is.  concerning  the  medical  inspectors? 

MEDICAL   INSPECTION   SERVICE   IN   THE   SCHOOLS. 

Dr.  Woodward.  The  question  there  arises  as  to  the  proper  location 
of  that  service.  The  service  was  originally  placed  under  the  joint 
control  of  the  health  department  and  the  board  of  education,  but 
under  the  general  supervision  of  the  commissioners,  of  course,  by  a 
joroviso  that  was  carried  until  last  year  in  every  appropriation  that 
was  passed,  namely: 

Provided.  That  said  inspectors  shall  be  appointed  by  the  commissioners 
only  after  competitive  examination,  and  shall  have  had  at  least  three  years' 
experience  in  the  practice  of  medicine  or  dentistry  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  sliall  perform  their  duties  under  the  direction  of  the  health  officer  and 
according  to  rules  formulated  from  time  to  time  by  him,  which  shall  be  subject 
to  the  approval  of  the  board  of  education  and  the  commissioners. 

That,  in  substance,  was  enacted  in  all  of  the  earlier  bills,  the  origi- 
nal limitation  on  experience  being  five  years  instead  of  three  years, 
and  the  original  act  having  no  reference,  of  course,  to  dentists — den- 
tists not  being  then  provided.  Last  yeai',  the  proviso  being  left  out 
of  the  appropriation  bill,  the  service  automatically  passed  to  the 
control  of  the  board  of  education  without  any  joint  control.  The 
service  is  a  medical  service.  It  is  rendered  altogether  by  medical 
men  and  by  trained  nurses.  It  is  very  closely  related  to  the  conta- 
gious-disease service  of  the  health  department;  and  even  in  so  far 
as  it  relates  to  illness  and  ill  health  on  the  part  of  pupils  who'  are 
not  suffering  from  contagious  diseases,  it  is  closely  related  to  the 
general  sanitary  work  of  the  department.     I  say  that  because  it  is 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917,  129 

impossible  to  take  five  houis  out  of  the  life  of  a  child  each  day.  and 
segregate  that  from  the  home  life,  having  to  do  with  the  general 
sanitary  conditions  of  the  home,  and  the  general  interest  of  the  par- 
ents in  the  welfare  of  the  child:  so  that  these  nurses  and  the  meclical 
inspectors  must  go  into  the  homes,  and  if  they  are  going  to  see  that 
the  children  are  properly  cared  for  they  have  to  advise  with  the 
parents  as  to  sanitary  practices  and  assist  the  parents  in  securing 
proper  relief  for  the  children. 

An  incident  came  to  my  notice  a  short  time  ago  that  shows  the 
possibilities  of  the  present  situation.  One  of  the  school  nurses  going 
to  her  home  to  incpire  about  an  absent  pupil,  found  the  home  in  an 
uncleanly  condition;  and  logically  that  is  a  matter  that  the  health 
department  ought  to  be  called  upon  to  attend  ,to.  Under  the  present 
conditions,  however,  the  physician  who  is  undertaking  to  supervise 
these  conditions  goes  personal!}'  into  the  home  to  see  if  he  can  not  in- 
duce those  people  to  clean  up.  AVe  have  other  cases  relating  to  the 
disinfection  of  school  buildings.  The  pupil  suffering  from  a  com- 
municable disease  is  found  in  a  school  building,  and  the  medical  in- 
spector of  schools  in  the  District  thinks  that  it  ought  to  be  disinfected. 
The  disinfecting  service  is  in  the  health  department,  and  the  health 
officer,  as  it  happened  on  at  least  one  occasion,  saw  no  reason  for 
disinfecting  the  building  at  the  time.  It  subsequently  showed  that 
the  health  officer  was  right.  Again,  there  was  the  possibility  of  the 
conflict  of  authority.  So  that,  quite  aside  from  the  cjuesiion  that 
it  is  a  medical  matter  that  apparently  ought  to  be  under  medical 
supervision,  there  is  the  possibility  of  friction  arising  out  of  conflict- 
ing authorities. 

The  better  opinion  among  medical  men  is  that  the  medical  inspec- 
tion of  schools  is  properly  a  function  of  the  health  department.  In 
fact,  at  the  recent  conference  of  the  provincial  and  State  boards  of 
health  held  this  last  month,  a  resolution  was  adopted  to  that  effect. 
Of  course,  we  have  to  admit  that  among  educators  there  is  a  feeling 
that  the  school  superintendent  should  care  for  the  service,  but  I  think 
I  ma}^  safely  say  that  since  the  service  has  been  transferred  to  the 
board  of  education — and  I  saj'  this  without  any  criticism  direct  or 
implied — there  has  been  no  material  change  or  been  no  material  im- 
provement or  alteration  in  the  system  from  that  which  was  followed 
when  the  health  department  had  charge  of  it.  I  believe,  therefore, 
that  the  reinsertion  of  this  provision  for  a  joint  control  of  the  service 
ought  to  be  made  in  the  bill. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Was  there  any  discussion  of  the  matter  at  the 
time  that  it  was  dropped  from  the  bill,  that  you  recall  ? 

Dr.  Woodward.  Xo,  sir. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  do  not  recall  it  at  all.  The  House  must 
have  left  it  out,  and  we  did  not  obserA'e  it. 

Dr.  Woodward.  The  same  provision,  if  it  is  inserted,  ought  to  be 
applied  to  the  school  nurses.  It  would  be  rather  illogical  to  have 
the  medical  inspectors  under  this  supervision  and  not  the  nur.ses. 

Senator  Gallixger.  You  will  prepare  a  draft  of  a  pi'ovision  cov- 
ering the  matter  and  submit  it  to  the  committee. 

4.3737—16 9 


130  DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Dr.  Woodward.  The  following  is  suggested :  On  page  Kl,  after  the 
end  of  line  24,  insert  the  following : 

Provided,  That  medical  inspectors  of  public  schools  and  graduate  nurses  act- 
ing as  pubic-school  nurses  shall  be  appointed  by  the  connnissioners,  but  only 
after  competitive  examination  and  after  having  liad  at  least  three  years'  expe- 
rience in  the  practice  of  medicine,  dentistry,  or  nursing;  and  the  medical 
inspection  of  public  schools  and  the  officers  and  employees  engaged  therein 
shall  be  under  the  direction  of  the  health  ofhcer,  but  said  inspection  shall  be 
conducted  according  to  rules  formulated  from  time  to  time  by  said  health 
officer  which  shall  be  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  board  of  education  and  the 
commissioners. 

DEATH    RATE    IN    THE   DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA. 

Are  there  any  othel-  questions  I  can  answer?  I  might  say,  as 
indicating  the  need  for  supporting  the  department,  that  for  some 
unexplained  reason  the  death  rate  of  the  city  went  up  last  year 
about  10  per  cent.  Why  it  went  up  nobody  has  been  able  to  dis- 
cover. It  is  the  only  large  city  in  the  country,  and  so  far  as  I  know 
the  only  city  in  the  country,  where  there  was  any  rise  of  that  kind. 

Senator  Curtis.  Ten  per  cent  ? 

Dr.  WooDAVARD,  About  10  per  cent. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Have  you  any  theory  to  advance  for  that? 

Dr.  WooDAVARD.  It  is  a  mystery,  in  view  of  the  distribution  of  the 
increased  number  of  deaths.  There  Avas  an  enormous  increase  of 
pneumonia,  Avhich,  of  course,  Ave  can  not  control,  accompanied  by 
an  increase  in  tuberculosis,  Avhich  probably  followed  the  pneumonia 
increase.  There  Avas  an  increase  also  of  deaths  from  typhoid  fever 
and  an  increase  from  heart  disease  and  all  along  the  line. 

Senator  Curtis.  There  Avas  an  epidemic  of  grip  here  last  spring? 

Dr.  Woodward.  Yes;  in  March.  But,  then,  I  say,  that  would  not 
affect  our  typhoid  fever.  There  Avas  an  increase  in  the  deaths  also 
from  diarrheal  affections,  I  noticed. 

Senator  Curtis.  Might  that  not  have  something  to  do  Avith  the 
typhoid  fever? 

Dr.  Woodavard.  I  should  hardly  think  so.  The  typhoid-fever 
rate  usually  runs  up  in  the  fall,  and  pneumonia  is  generally  over  by 
that  time.  It  affected  the  Avhites  and  blacks,  males  and  females,  and 
practically  people  of  every  age  period. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  think  that  Avas  general.  I  think  the  Avest- 
ern  insurance  companies  found  a  larger  death  rate  last  year. 

Dr.  Woodavard.  Yes;  and  I  corresponded  Avith  other  cities.  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Ivichmond,  and  others,  and  the  figures 
they  gave  me  shoAved  a  decrease.  Xcav  York  City  had  a  very  slight 
increase. 

Senator  Gallinger.  In  the  general  death  rate? 

Dr.  Woodavard.  In  the  general  death  rate ;  and  I  should  like  to  be 
in  a  position  to  analyze  the  figures,  if  Ave  had  the  help  to  do  it,  to  see 
Avhat  AA'e  could  make  out  of  it,  because  that  is  the  only  Avay  we  can 
nuike  progress.  We  slipped  a  cog  someAvhere.  and  we  want  to  knoAv 
Avhere. 


DISTBIOT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATION    BILL^  1917.  131 

STATEMENTS  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF 
COLUMBIA— Continued. 

Coniiiiissioner  Xp:w3iax.  I  think  we  have  about  cleaned  up  the 
things  which  we  cared  to  present  exclusively  from  the  commis- 
sioners. The  matters  of  the  schools,  and  charities  and  corrections, 
Ave  would  like  to  have  presented  b}^  the  board  of  education  and  the 
Board  of  Charities. 


These  items  here  as  to  courts,  of  course,  are  attended  to  by  the  com- 
missioners, but  it  is  a  purely  ministerial  act.  We  do  not  prepare 
the  estinuites.  although  we  transmit  them.  They  appear  in  the  Dis- 
trict bill,  but  they  are  for  services  not  under  the  commissioners. 

Senator  Curtis.  Who  gets  up  these  estimates  now? 

Commissioner  Newmax.  The  officials  of  the  various  courts  con- 
cerned, and  they  are  transmitted  to  us  by  them.  The  water  depart- 
ment we  have  not  touched  on,  which  is  under  the  commissioners. 

WRITS    or   LUXACY. 

There  is  one  item  which  appears  in  with  the  courts,  which  is  a 
commissioners'  item,  and  that  is  as  to  the  writs  of  lunacy.  This  is 
on  page  6(5.  There  were  some  changes  that  come  directly  under  the 
commissioners,  and  there  was  a  change  made  by  the  House  committee 
which  was  stricken  out  on  a  point  of  order  on  the  floor  of  the  House, 
which  we  would  like  to  see  restored  in  the  Senate  bill.  That  ques- 
tion was  very  thoroughly  covered  in  the  House  hearings. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  item  was  that? 

INCREASE  OF  SALARY  OF  ALIEXIST CUERK  TO  ALIENIST    (nEW). 

Commissioner  Newman.  Page  66,  line  7.  There  is  an  item  for  in- 
crease of  compensation  of  the  alienist  from  $1,000  to  $1,500  a  year, 
and  providing  for  a  clerk  for  the  alienist,  who  should  be  a  stenog- 
rapher and  typewriter. 

Senator  Curtis.  How  much  time  does  lie  devote  to  the  work  of 
the  office  ? 

Commissioner  New^ian,  He  does  not  devote  all  of  his  time,  of 
course,  but  he  devotes  a  great  deal.  Senator  Curtis. 

Senator  Curtis.  Are  there  any  extra  fees  that  he  gets  in  a  case 
of  any  kind,  of  the  District  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  He  gets  no  fees  from  any  District  cases. 

Senator  Curtis.  He  is  used  in  criminal  cases  and  gets  no  fees,  at 
all.  extra? 

Commissioner  Newman.  He  is  not  used  as  a  witness  by  the  District 
in  any  ordinary  case  in  which  there  is  a  call  for  medical  witnesses. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  He  appeared  last  year  in  more  than 
1,600  lunacy  cases. 

Commissioner  Newman.  His  work,  of  course,  is  usually  in  lunacy 
cases,  but  occasionally  he  is  subpoenaed  by  the  GoA'ernment  or  some 
private  person  for  his  service,  in  which  cases  he  gets  fees. 

Senator  Curtis.  I  should  think  he  would  be  a  vei\y  valuable  wit- 
ness in  criminal  cases. 


132  mSTEICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  191*7. 

Commissioner  Newman.  He  is  called  out  of  the  city  sometimes, 
and  sometimes  he  is  used  for  the  Government,  by  the  Department  of 
Justice,  in  the  prosecution  of  cases. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  much  of  his  time  is  employed 
in  this  service? 

Commissioner  Newman.  I  should  say.  Senator,  fully  one-half  of  it, 
and  at  times  all  of  it. 

Senator  Gallinger.  T^Tio  is  he? 

Commissioner  Newmax.  Dr.  D.  Percy  Hickling.  There  is  a  state- 
ment on  page  378  of  the  House  hearings,  which  Dr.  Hickling  pre- 
pared for  the  commissioners,  and  which  we  read  to  the  House  com- 
mittee. It  gives  the  complete  details  of  the  duties,  which  are  very, 
very  large. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  know  Dr.  Hickling  well,  and  will  be  glad  to 
testif}^  to  his  great  ability  and  skill.  He  ought  to  be  well  paid  for 
what  he  does. 

interest  and  sinking  fund. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Another  item  in  which  the  commissioners 
are  concerned,  in  that  same  group,  is,  of  course,  interest  and  sinking 
fund,  which  will  take  care  of  itself  according  to  what  is  done  in  the 
adjustment  of  the  fiscal-relations  matter. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes.  That  interest  and  sinking  fund  on  the 
funded  debt,  the  joint  committee  found,  should  be  paid  on  the  half- 
and-half  principle,  did  they  not? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  the  Government  was  held  legally  for  the 
payment  of  one-half? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  But  the  House  placed  it  entirely  on  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  did  it  not? 

Commissioner  Newman.  No,  sir.  The  House  saj^s  one-half  out 
of  the  revenues  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  one-half  out  of  any 
money  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated. 

Senator  Curtis.  It  was  put  in  on  the  floor? 

Commissioner  Newman.  On  the  floor. 

Senator  Gallinger.  There  has  been  a  misapprehension  on  the 
part  of  some  people,  because  they  represented  it  to  me  differently. 

COURTS  AND  PRISONS. 
SUPPOKT  OF  CONVICTS. 

Commissioner  Newman.  There  is  one  other  item  in  the  courts 
which  we  are  indirectly  interested  in.  It  is  on  page  67.  line  16,  sup- 
port of  convicts.  The  commissioners  made  an  estimate  of  $165,000 
for  the  support  of  convicts  for  the  fiscal  vear  1917.  The  appropria- 
tion for  1916  was  $90,000,  with  an  estimated  deficiency  of  $60,000. 
That  is  an  expense,  of  course,  over  which  we  have  absolutely  no 
control. 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  But  it  will  probably  be  much  less  if  the 
reformatory  is  completed. 


DISTEICT    OP    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  133 

Commissioner  Newman.  The  amount  of  money  expended  for  that 
purpose  depends  on  the  number  of  people  committed  to  the  peni- 
tentiaries and  reformatories  by  the  criminal  courts,  and,  whatever 
it  is,  we  have  to  pay  the  bill.  As  you  gentlemen  know,  we  have  no 
penal  institution  for  long-term  prisoners,  and  our  long-term  prison- 
ers are  sent  to  Atlaata  or  to  some  of  tlie  State  penitentiaries  and  are 
paid  for  by  the  District  on  a  per  diem  basis.  This  is  the  fund  from 
which  that  per  diem  expense  is  paid.  The  House  committee  made 
thi>  $100,000,  instead  of  our  estimate  of  $165,000,  on  the  theory  that 
du'ing  the  next  year  our  new  reformatory  would  be  in  operation  and 
we  would  have  down  there  a  sufficient  number  of  prisoners  to  reduce 
this  item  of  support  of  prisoners  by  that  amount.  I  hope  that  the 
reformatory  will  be  in  operation  and  that  that  can  be  accomplished. 
The  provision  as  passed  by  the  House.  I  think,  will  make  that  pos- 
sible. Of  course,  if  that  reformatory  is  not  in  operation  to  receive 
them,  that  item  should  be  increased. 

Senator  Gallinger.  In  that  case  you  could  ask  for  an  emergency 
appropriation  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  For  a  deficiency. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes;  it  is  something  we  have  no  control 
over. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  commissioners  heretofore,  I  think,  have 
discussed  with  us  these  institutions,  such  as  the  Home  for  the  Aged 
and  Infirm. 

Conunissioner  Broavnlow.  We  will  come  back  with  the  Board  of 
Charities  on  that. 

Commissioner  Newmax.  We  will  be  here  with  the  Board  of 
Charities. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Very  well. 

REFUXD    or    ERROXEOUS    COLLECTIOXS, 

Commissioner  Newman.  There  is  one  little  item  on  page  87,  fol- 
lowing the  National  Guard  items,  in  which  we  ask  for  the  insertion 
of  the  words  "  or  collections  "  in  lines  15  and  16.  We  were  author- 
ized to  make  refunds  in  cases  of  assessments,  school  tuition  charges, 
rents,  fees,  or  collections  of  any  character  that  have  been  erroneously 
covered  into  the  Treasury  to  the  credit  of  the  United  States  and  the 
District  of  Columbia  in  equal  parts.  We  found  there  were  certain 
cases  that  did  not  come  under  any  of  those  headings,  but  would  be 
covered  by  "  collections,"  the  principal  ones  of  that  character  being 
the  cases  of  patients  at  St.  Elizabeth  for  Avhom  a  quarter's  payment 
for  maintenance  had  been  made,  and  who  were  either  discharged  or 
died  before  the  expiration  of  that  time,  so  that  they  would  be  enti- 
tled to  a  refund  of  that  balance  of  the  quarterly  maintenance  pay- 
ment. We  could  not,  according  to  the  comptroller's  opinion,  pay  it 
back  under  the  existing  authorization.  That  is  the  reason  we  asked 
for  the  addition  of  the  words  "  or  collections." 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  House  put  that  in? 

Commissioner  Newmax.  That  is  in  the  l)ill;  yes,  sir. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  And  we  want  the  $1,500,  the  amount  of 
the  estimate. 

Commissioner  Newmax.  We  would  like  to  have  the  estimate;  ves. 


134  DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

That  brings  us  to  page  88.  continuing  the  rechimation  and  develop- 
ment of  the  Anacostia  Eiver  and  Fhits. 

Coh  KuTz.  This  is  an  item  of  work  that  is  performed  under  the 
direction  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers  and  the  Secretary  of  War.  The 
amount  authorized  by  the  House  is  in  accordance  with  the  estimate, 
but  the  Secretary  of  SVar.  in  a  letter  to  the  commissioners,  asked  that 
the  phraseology  of  the  item  be  changed,  for  this  reason,  that  the 
original  language,  under  Avhich  they  have  been  proceeding,  provides 
for  the  acquisition  of  land  on  both  sides  of  the  Anacostia  to  approxi- 
mately the  10-foot  contour. 

It  was  assumed  that  the  word  ''approximately"  would  permit  the 
acquisition  of  land  up  to  certain  general  lines  which  would  naturally 
define  the  parked  area,  or  separate  the  parked  area  from  the  land  in 
private  ownership :  but  a  condemnation  case  in  court  recently  was 
turned  down  on  the  ground  that  the  authorities  had  not  conformed 
to  the  law  in  that  they  had  included  a  small  strip  of  land  that  was 
just  above  the  10-foot  contour.  To  correct  that  condition  and  permit 
the  acquisition  of  the  land  that  should  be  acquired  for  park  purposes, 
to  give  easy,  graceful  lines  separating  the  park  from  land  in  private 
ownership,  the  Secretary  of  War  is  desirous  of  securing  authority 
from  Congress  to  condemn  to  lines  which  he  has  shown  on  a  map 
which  he  has  prepared  and  which  he  has  referred  to  in  the  proposed 
phraseology. 

The  proposed  taking  line  does  not  differ  radically  from  the  pro- 
posed taking  line  under  the  original  law  and  is  made  to  conform  to 
a  certain  modified  highway  plan.  If  authorized,  it  will  permit  of  a 
park  following  those  lines.  The  commissioners  suggest  for  the  con- 
sideration of  die  committee  the  inclusion  of  the  revised  language. 
It  makes  no  change  in  other  conditions — that  is,  the  conditions  pro- 
viding that  a  certain  part  of  the  cost  shall  be  assessed  against  prop- 
erty that  is  benefited — and  while  the  item  is  somewhat  lengthy,  there 
is  involved  in  it  only  that  one  change,  from  approximately  the  10-foot 
contour  to  a  definitely-described  taking  line. 

(The  proposed  item  submitted  by  Col.  Kutz  is  here  printed  in  the 
record  as  follows:) 

Insert  in  lieu  of  present  item  for  Anacostia  River  Flats  on  page  88.  lines  2-10, 
of  the  District  appropriation  bill  now  before  the  Senate  Coninii'tee  on  Appro- 
priations, the  following : 

"  For  continuing  the  reclamation  and  development  of  the  Anacostia  River 
and  flats,  from  the  Anacostia  Bridge  northeast  to  the  District  line,  to  be  ex- 
pended under  the  supervision  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  United  States  Army, 
upon  plans  heretofore  authorized  to  be  prepared ;  and  under  the  conditions 
specified  in  the  item  for  this  improvement  contained  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia appropriation  act  for  the  fiscal  year  nineteen  hundred  and  fifteen,  said  sum 
to  be  available  for  the  preparation  of  plans,  the  prosecution  of  the  work,  the 
employment  of  personal  service,  and  for  such  other  purposes  as  may  in  the 
judgment  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers  be  necessary  to  carry  out  the  purposes  of 
this  appropriation,  $200,000.  In  connection  with  the  said  reclamation  and  de- 
velopment of  the  river  and  flats,  the  Secretary  of  War  is  authorized  to  ;j.C(iuire, 
for  and  on  behalf  of  the  United  States,  by  purchase  or  by  condemnation,  for 
highway  and  park  pui-poses,  the  fee  simple  and  absolute  title  to  all  lands,  re- 
quired for  said  objects  and  not  now  owned  by  the  United  States,  in  and  along 
the  Anacostia  River  from  the  Anacostia  Bridge  to  the  center  line  of  East 
Capitol  Street,  embraced  within  the  area  lying  between  the  lines,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  river,  following  approximately  the  contour  of  ten  feet  elevatioii 
above  the  plane  of  mean  low  water  at  the  United  States  Navy  Yard  ;  and  the 
Secretary  of  War  is  further  authorized  to  acquire  for  the  United  States,  by 


DISTKICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  135 

purchase  or  Ity  (•(nuleiiiniition.  for  liiirhway  and  park  purposes,  in  connoctioa 
with  the  said  reclamation  and  development  of  the  Anacostia  River  and  Hats, 
the  fee  simple  and  absolute  title  to  all  lands,  required  for  saul  objects  and  not 
now  owned  by  the  United  States,  in  and  alons;  the  Anacostia  River  in  the  section 
tliereof  running'  from  the  center  line  of  East  Capitol  Street  to  the  northeast 
boundary  line  of  the  Discrict  of  Columbia,  embraced  within  the  limits  desig- 
nated '  Taking  line.'  one  on  each  bank  of  the  river  in  said  section,  as  indicated 
on  the  map  entitled.  '  Reclamation,  Anacostia  River  Flats.  District  of  Columbia 
hind  map,'  approved  by  the  Chief  of  Engineers.  United  States  Army,  and  the 
Seer  t'M-y  of  War,  as  attested  and  authenticated  by  their  respective  signatures 
and  the  seal  of  the  Wai-  Department,  bearing  date  the  twenty-fourth  day  of 
May,  nineteen  hundred  and  sixteen,  recorded  and  filed  in  the  ottice  of  the  Chief 
of  EnL,ineers,  United  States  Army  (under  Engineer  Department  File  No. 
32968/525)  ;  and  the  appropriation  herein  made  for  the  reclamation  and  de- 
velopment of  the  Anacostia  River  and  Flats  from  the  Anacostia  Bridge  north- 
east to  the  District  line,  and  all  appropriations  heretofore  made  for  said  pur- 
pose are  hereby  made  availal)le  for  the  purchase  or  condemnation  of  all  of  the 
said  lands  hereinbefore  authorized  to  be  acquired  and  for  the  payment  of 
amounts  awarded  as  damages  for  said  land,  and  the  costs  and  expenses  of  the 
condenmation  proceedings  in  the  event  that  it  is  necessary  to  institute  such 
condemnation  proceedings :  Provided,  That  if  said  lands  or  any  part  thereof 
can  not  be  acquired  by  purchase  from  the  owners  thereof  at  a  price  satisfactory 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  upon 
request  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  shall  institute  condemnation  proceedings  to 
acquire  such  lands  under  the  provisions  of  chapter  fifteen  of  the  Code  of  Law 
for  the  District  of  Columbia." 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  there  an}^  difference  about  the 
assessment  provision  now  and  heretofore? 

Col.  KuTz.  Xo,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  This  amendment  of  yours  says  it  is 
to  be  done  under  the  supervision  of  the  Chief  of  Engineers  of  the 
United  States  Army. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  jNIaryland.  The  law  does  not  specify  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  The  existing  law  provides  that. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  same  thing? 

PARKS. 
CONDEMNATION   OF   SMALL  PARK  AREAS. 

The  next  item,  of  small  parks,  I  should  like  to_  see  in  its  present 
form  as  authorized  by  the  House. 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.  The  item  of  $25,000  for  the  acquisition  of  small 
parks  is  not  a  useful  appropriation  in  its  present  form.  The  condi- 
tions that  are  imposed  can  not  be  complied  with.  One  of  the  condi- 
tions that  are  set  forth  here  in  the  sundry  civil  act  of  1914  is  that 
they  must  be  limited  to  the  parks  shown  on  a  certain  plan  on  file 
in  the  office  of  the  engineer  commissioner;  another  is  that  small  parks 
must  be  entirely  surrounded  by  streets ;  and  a  third  is  that  they  must 
lie  outside  of  the  boundary  lines  of  the  old  cities  of  Georgetown  and 
Washington.  The  commissioners  have  already  taken  steps  to  acquire 
practically  all  the  small  triangles  that  comply  with  those  three  con- 
ditions, and  the  few  that  they  have  not  purchased  have  either  been 
improved  by  buildings  so  that  the  cost  would  be  ])rohibitive,  or  are  so 
far  in  the  outskirts  and  undeveloped  regions  that  the  commissioners 
thought  it  woukl  be  many  years  before  they  would  l)e  needed.  So 
that,  in  subuiitting  our  estimates  this  year,  we  asked  that  some  of 
those  conditions  be  modified. 


136  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

AVe  asked  that  Ave  be  not  restricted  to  the  territory  outside  of  the 
old  limits  of  Washington  and  Georgetown,  and  that  we  be  not  re- 
stricted to  small  areas  that  were  completely  surrounded  by  streets. 
There  are  several  small  triangles  in  the  old  city  of  Washington,  two 
of  which  are  on  Xew  Jersey  Avenue,  one  near  Q  Street,  that  we  think 
ought  to  be  purchased  as  small  parks.  They  are  so  small  in  area  that 
they  can  not  be  used  for  building  purposes,  and  are  used  solely  for 
the  storage  of  old  building  materials,  and  constitute  unsightly  spots 
in  what  is  otherwise  a  very  attractive  section  of  the  town. 

Outside  of  the  city  there  are  several  triangles  which  the  commis- 
sioners had  already  undertaken  to  acquire,  but  they  were  compelled 
to  discontinue  the  proceedings  on  account  of  the  sundry  civil  act  of 
1914:  which  imposed  the  limitation  that  they  must  be  entireh'  sur- 
rounded by  streets.  One  of  these  triangular  tracts  is  at  the  intersec- 
tion of  Mount  Pleasant  Street  and  Sixteenth  Street,  just  in  front  of 
the  Kenesaw  apartment  house.  We  think  it  would  be  very  unfor- 
tunate if  that  small  triangular  space  were  used  for  building  purposes, 
yet  under  the  limitation  imposed  by  law  we  can  not  acquire  it  under 
this  small-parks  provision. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  was  put  in  to  cover  that  specific  case. 
Some  of  us  made  a  great  fight  against  permitting  an  apartment  house 
to  be  put  up  where  the  Kenesaw  apartment  house  is.  We  thought  it 
was  very  unfortunate  to  put  an  apartment  house  at  that  point,  which 
is  an  approach  to  the  Rock  Creek  Park,  but  the  enterprising  parties 
who  were  desirous  of  putting  an  apartment  house  there  proceeded  to 
build  it.  Now,  there  is  a  body  of  land  running  out  south  of  the 
Kenesaw-,  which  is  not  in  front  of  the  building ;  it  is  what  you  would 
call  the  south  part  of  the  building,  or  front. 

Col  KuTz.  It  is  an  extension  of  the  land. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  is  an  extension.  The  owner  of  that  came  to 
me.  I  was  somewhat  responsible  for  that  legislation.  He  says  he 
wants  to  hold  his  property  for  building  purposes.  I  could  not  see 
any  reason,  when  there  was  that  great  apartment  house  there,  why  a 
proper  residence  or  any  proper  structure  might  not  be  placed  on  that 
extension  of  the  land  on  which  the  Kenesaw  stands,  and  so  I  intro- 
duced the  amendment  which  became  laAV,  and  it  was  for  the  purpose 
of  covering  that  specific  case. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Since  then,  however.  Senator,  Mr.  Brown 
has  changed  his  mind  and  he  now  wants  to  sell  it  to  the  District  for 
a  park.    He  has  failed  in  his  negotiations  he  had  on  at  that  time. 

Senator  Gallixger.  And  he  is  willing  to  make  a  park  of  it  ^ 

Commissioner  Newman.  He  is  sorry  this  restriction  is  on  it.  and  he 
wants  to  make  a  park  of  it. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Very  well. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  In  this  particular  case.  I  do  not  know 
whether  you  remember  it,  but  one-half  of  the  cost  of  these  triangles 
is  assessed  as  actual  benefits,  and  in  that  particular  case.  i)art  (^  it.  or 
most  of  it,  undoubtedly  would  have  gone  against  the  Kenesaw  apart- 
ment house,  as  I  suppose  it  would  have  been  a  great  advantage  to 
them  to  be  guaranteed  that  that  would  always  be  a  park  there:  they 
would  have  had  to  pay  very  substantially  for  it,  and  what  Mr.  Thrown 
wanted  to  build  was  some  little  one-story  shops.  There  would  have 
been  a  tailor  shop  or  a  little  ice-cream  shoj).  or  something  of  that 
kind. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  137 

Senator  Gallixger,  I  did  not  understand  it,  I  confess,  because  I 
would  not  have  approved  of  that,  at  all. 

Commissioner  Newmax.  The  way  I  happen  to  know  about  that 
is  that  a  little  tailor  to  whom  I  send  ni}"  clothes  sometimes  to  have 
cleaned  and  pressed  in  the  neitiliborhood  where  I  live  now  came  to 
me  at  mv  house  one  morning  at  half  past  8.  and  it  appeared  that  he 
had  made  a  deposit  with  Mv.  Brown  to  buy  this  property,  and  then 
when  he  Avent  to  get  the  abstract  of  title  he  found  that  these  con- 
demnation proceedings  had  been  instituted,  so  that  he  told  me  the 
character  of  structure  he  contemplated  building.  I  think  perhaps 
the  situation  now  is  a  little  different  from  what  it  was  at  the  time  the 
matter  Avas  brought  to  your  attention. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Well,  you  will  prepare  an  amendment,  or  per- 
haps you  have  an  amendment  covering  Avhat  you  Avant  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  The  suggested  language  is  on  the  right-hand  side  of 
the  page. 

Senator  Gallixger.  In  your  estimates? 

Col.  Kl'tz.  Yes;  just  as  Ave  put  it  in  the  estimates.  It  removes  the 
two  restrictions  that  I  spoke  of.  There  is  another  case  at  the  inter- 
section of  New  Hampshire  AA-enue  or  Park  Koad  and  Sherman  Ave- 
nue that  Ave  had  started  to  condemn  and  Avere  stopped. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  is  in  this  section  under  the  head  of  small 
parks?    That  covers  what  you  want? 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes.  "We  have  confidence  in  the  Avisdom  of  the  Senate 
committee. 

ACQflSITIOX  OF  DEAX'   TRACT. 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  In  relation  to  the  item  for  the  acquisi- 
tion of  the  Patterson  tract  at  a  price  of  $500.000 — that  is  one  of  the 
large  tracts.  There  are  10  or  12  baseball  diamonds  laid  out  there 
noAv.  and  the  commissioners  belieA^e  that  it  should  be  acquired  for 
public  use  as  a  park. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Do  you  think  that  it  is  worth  $6,000  an  acre? 

Commissioner  Broavxloav.  Yes,  sir.  The  other  item  refers  to  the 
Dean  tract,  Avhich  is  bounded  b}^  Connecticut  Avenue  and  Florida 
Avenue  and  Nineteenth  Street,  and  apartment  houses  and  private 
pro])erty  on  the  north.  It  is  just  opposite  the  Highlands  Apartment 
House.  That  is  a  A'ery  beautiful  site.  As  Mr.  Mann  in  the  House 
said  the  other  day.  in  his  opinion,  the  most  beautiful  private  prop- 
erty he  knew  of  in  an  actually  built-up  part  of  a  city  in  the  United 
States.  It  is  in  the  most  densely  populated  section  of  the  city,  sur- 
rounded by  apartment  houses  in  every  direction,  and  a  section  Avhere 
ncAv  apartment  houses  are  going  up  very  rapidly.  It  is  offered  to  us 
at  $6-25.000.  which  is  based  on  the  assessment,  and  Avhich  is  about 
$1.50  a  foot.  Property  in  all  that  section  sells  for  more  than  that; 
and  the  expen.se  of  maintaining  this  property  is  such  that  very  prob- 
ably this  is  the  last  chance  to  acquire  it  as  a  park.  The  owners  prob- 
al)ly  Avill  sell  it  for  development.  It  should  be  retained  for  the  beau- 
tification  of  the  city  and  for  a  park  in  a  croAveded  section  of  the  city 
that  has  fcAv  small  parks. 

There  have  been  very  fcAv  sales  of  property  in  that  section  of 
the  city  for  a  good  many  years  at  a  price  as  Ioav  as  $1.50  a  foot.  I 
have  had  the  assessor  make  some  figures  on  that.     There  Avas  one 


138  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  , 

small  lot  on  Nineteenth  Street  that  sold  in  1912  for  $1.10  per  square 
foot.  On  Nineteenth  Street  a  sale  was  made  in  1915  at  $3  a  square 
foot.  On  Florida  Avenue,  facing  it,  there  were  sales  at  $2.20  and 
$1  a  square  foot.  The  property  immediately  opposite,  on  Connecti- 
cut Avenue,  occupied  by  St.  Margaret's  Church,  was  purchased  in 
1895  for  $1  a  square  foot.  Another  lot,  in  the  next  block,  sold  a 
few  weeks  ago  at  the  same  price.  That  propert}^  is  so  strongly  held 
and  is  so  valuable  that  there  have  been  few  sales  in  that  community, 
but  we  do  believe  that  at  $1.50  a  foot,  $625,000,  for  the  Dean  tract 
is  a  low  price. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  There  was  a  sale  on  Columbia  Road  at 
$2.25  a  foot.  The  prices  all  around  there  are  higher.  I  happen  to 
know  that  one  of  the  most  enterprising  apartment  house  builders 
in  the  city  is  negotiating  for  the  sale  of  the  property,  and  if  the 
Government  does  not  buy  it,  it  is  going  to  be  cut  up  and  put  into 
apartment  houses,  the  same  as  the  Barber  tract  and  the  Truesdell 
tract,  and  others  not  so  attractive. 

Commissioner  Brownloav.  Another  dirt'erence  between  this  and 
Meridian  Hill  and  Montrose  Park  and  others  that  have  been  pur- 
chased is  that  it  will  require  very  little  to  make  it  available  for  use, 
because  it  is  beautifully  planted  with  trees,  it  has  a  masonry  re- 
taining wall  on  two  sides  and  handsome  driveways,  and  it  is  prac- 
tically ready  for  occupation  as  a  park. 

One  very  interesting  thing  about  it  is  that  in  that  property  is 
Avhat  some  people  say  is  the  largest  oak  tree  in  America ;  certainly 
it  is  one  of  the  largest.  It  has  a  spread  of  more  than  a  third  of 
an  acre. 

The  land  is  high  and  affords  a  view  of  the  city  and  is  desirable 
for  esthetic  purposes,  and  it  is  also  desirable  for  social  reasons, 
because  it  is  in  the  most  congested  part  of  the  population  of  Wash- 
ington. 

Commissioner  Newmak.  I  should  like  to  remind  the  committee 
that  it  has  been  several  years  since  any  new  park  has  been  purchased 
in  the  District. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Everybody  I  hear  speak  of  this 
tract  speaks  of  it  in  the  most  glowing  terms. 

Senator  Gallingee.  We  will  look  those  two  propositions  over. 

(At  1  o'clock,  p.  m.,  the  subcommittee  adjourned,  subject  to  the 
call  of  the  chairman.) 


DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA  APPROPRIATION  BILL,  1917. 


TUESDAY,  JUNE  20,   1916. 

United  States  Senate^ 
Subcommittee  of  the  Committee  on  Appropeiations, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
The  subcommittee  met  at  10.30  o'clock  a.  m.  pm-suant  to  call,  John 
Walter  Smith  presiding. 

Present:  Senators  Smith  of  Maryland  (chairman),  and  Dillingham. 
Also  present:  Oliver  P.  Newman,  president  of  the  Board  of  Com- 
missioners of  the  District  of  Columbia:  Louis  BrownloAV,  commissioner; 
and  Lieut.  Col.  Charles  W.  Kutz,  Corps  of  Engineers,  Ignited  States 
Army,  Engineer  Commissioner  of  the  District  of  Columbia;  Daniel  E. 
Garges,  chief  clerk;  Daniel  J.  Donovan,  secretary  to  the  Board  of 
Commissioners ;  John  Joy  Edson,  president  of  the  Board  of  Charities; 
Dr.  George  M.  Kober,  member  of  the  Board  of  Charities;  and  George 
S.  Wilson,  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Charities,  appeared. 

STATEMENT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE   DISTRICT  OF 
COLUMBIA— Continued. 

Col.  Kutz.  Mr.  Chairman,  there  are  several  items  that  the  com- 
missioners would  like  to  go  back  to,  if  it  pleases  the  committee. 
The  Chairman  (Senator  Smith).  You  may  proceed,  sir. 

FISH    WHARF    AND    MARKET. 

Col.  KuTZ.  There  is  an  item  on  page  21,  lines  7  to  14,  that  was 
passed  over — the  item  for  completing  the  construction  of  market 
buildings  on  the  site  of  the  present  municipal  fish  wharf.  There,  the 
commissioners  would  like  to  suggest  two  changes.  One  is  -authority 
for  connecting  the  plant  with  the  central  heating,  lighting,  and 
power  plant,  instead  of  establishing  a  separate  power  plant  for  the 
sole  use  of  the  fish  market.  This  will  remove  one  separate  power 
plant,  and  will  result  in  economy  in  first  cost,  and  economy  in  mainte- 
nance and  operation.  The  matter  has  been  taken  up  with  the  oiTicials 
of  the  Treasury  Department  who  are  charged  with  the  construction 
of  the  central  heating,  lighting,  and  power  plant,  and  they  are  entirely 
agreeable  to  this  connection.     It  will  add  very  little  to  their  load. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Have  you  prepared  an  amendment  carry- 
ing out  your  suggestion '( 

Col.  Kutz.  Yes,  sir.  It  is  to  be  inserted  on  page  21,  in  lieu  of 
lines  7  to  14,  and  is  as  follows: 

For  completin.o;  the  construction  of  market  buildings  on  the  site  of  the  present 
naunicipal  fish  wharf  and  market,  inchiding  a  plant  for  refrigerating  show  cases,  and 
ice  boxes,  but  excluding  the  cold  storage  plant  now  authorized,  which  shall  be 

139 


140  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 


I 


equipped  for  the  accommodation  of  such  retail  business  as  may  obtain  at  that  point> 
and  shall  serve  as  a  wholesale  recei\T.ng  and  distributing  point  for  marine  and  other  /f 
products  to  be  retailed  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  within  a  limit  of  cost  wliich  is  jr 
hereby  fixed  at  $130,000,  instead  of  $185,000  heretofore  authorized:  Provided,  That 
this  appropriation  and  the  appropriations  heretofore  made  for  the  construction  of 
said  market  buildings,  shall  be  available  for  connecting  the  said  market  buildings 
with  the  central  heating,  lighting,  and  power  plant  for  the  purpose  of  securing  electric 
light  and  power,  |5,000. 

Senator  Smith.  Then  your  suggestion  is,  instead  of  relying  upon 
a  power  plant  for  this  building  itself,  to  connect  it  up  with  another 
power  plant  ? 

Col.  Kt^TZ.  Yes,  sir;  it  is  a  very  logical  thing  to  do,  with  a  large 
central  ])lant  in  that  immediate  vicmity. 

The  other  feature  that  we  wish  to  take  up  is  a  suggestion  that  the 
scope  of  the  original  project  be  reduced,  and  that  the  item  for  a  cold- 
storage  plant  be  omitted,  with  a  consequent  reduction  in  the  total 
cost  from  $185,000  to  $130,000.  This  is  covered  by  the  amendment 
just  submitted.  The  original  project  contemplated  not  only  a  series 
of  stalls  on  the  first  floor  for  retail  and  wholesale  business,  with  refrig- 
erated show  cases  and  ice  boxes,  but,  also,  on  the  second  floor,  a 
cold-storage  plant  for  the  reception  and  storage  of  fish  and  other 
products,  both  of  the  sea  and  of  the  land;  in  other  words,  a  small 
municipal  cold-storage  plant.  We  have  developed  plans  to  carry 
out  that  idea,  but  in  doing  so  have  made  further  studies  as  to  the 
economy  and  the  advisability  of  such  an  installation. 

In  the  unmediate  vicinity  of  this  fish  market  there  is  a  large  cold- 
storage  plant  under  private  ownership  and  private  operation;  and 
the  commissioners  have  finally  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  inad- 
visable to  provide  for  cold  storage  in  this  market  building.  We  fear 
that  it  will  not  result  in  the  economy  that  was  first  anticipated,  and 
that  it  may  not  even  be  self-supporting.  We  would  like  to  omit  that 
feature  of  the  project  and  develop  merely  a  fish  market,  retail  and 
wholesale,  with  a  refrigerating  plant  onh^  large  enough  to  refrigerate 
the  ice  boxes  and  show  cases  of  the  various  stalls  and  market  spaces 
but  not  attempt  to  install  on  the  second  flood  any  cold-storage  space 

Senator  Smith.  You  speak  of  this  private  cold-storage  plant.  Is' 
your  suggestion  to  use  that  in  connection  with  this  in  any  way  ? 

Col.  Kutz.  We  feel  that  that  will  serve  any  public  need  that  may 
exist;  that  any  fish  or  food  products  that  come  in  there  that  need 
cold  storage  can  be  accommodated  in  this  private  plant,  and  that  the 
ver}"  size  of  the  private  plant  makes  it  possible  to  provide  refrigerated 
storage  at  verj^  much  less  cost  per  cubic  foot  than  it  could  be  provided 
in  a  small  municipal  plant. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  In  other  words,  we  do  not  believe  that 
with  a  plant  of  this  size  we  could  economically  compete  with  the 
private  plant  in  long  time  cold  storage.  We  do  need  a  small  refrig- 
erating plant. 

Col.  Kutz.  It  will  be  possible  at  any  future  plant  to  proyide  such 
cold  storage,  if  subsequent  investigation  shows  it  to  be  economical, 
simply  by  putting  a  second  story  on  the  building  that  we  now  pro- 
pose to  build;  but  we  thhik  it  is  unwise  to  do  it  now. 

Senator  Dillingham.  What  is  the  private  company  to  which  you 
refer  ? 

Col.  Kutz.  It  is  the  Washington  Market  Co 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  141 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  One  other  thing  that  I  think  I  can  say 
in  that  connection  is  that  after  it  was  proposed  to  establish  a  cold- 
storage  plant  there,  a  very  much  more  careful  examination  was  made 
of  the  character  of  the  products  that  come  in  at  that  point,  and  we 
discovered  that  a  vast  quantity  of  fish  and  other  products  that  it 
was  assumed  would  be  susceptible  of  being  placed  in  cold  storage 
are  in  such  condition  when  they  actually  arrive  at  Washington  that 
we  could  not  store  them;  and  that  is  one  other  factor  that  caused  us 
to  reach  this  determmation. 

Senator  Smith.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  there  is  anything  that  is 
essential  in  the  keeping  of  these  perishable  foods,  fish,  etc.,  it  is 
cold  storage. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  I  understand  they  propose  to  have  cold 
storage  in  each  individual  stall. 

Col.  KuTZ.  In  each  individual  stall  or  market  space  there  will  be 
brine  pipes  that  will  cool  and  refrigerate  the  show  cases  and  the  ice 
boxes,  so  that  each  individual  shopkeeper  will  have  cold  storage; 
but  there  will  not  be  a  central  municipal  cold-storage  plant  at  the 
market. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  For  the  storage  of  food  products  for  a 
considerable  length  of  time. 

Senator  Smith.  What  is  the  next  item  ? 

RETAIXING    WALL,  CAXAL    ROAD. 

Col.  KuTZ.  On  page  26,  lines  17  and  18— an  item  of  $10,000  for  the 
reconstruction  of  the  retaining  wall  on  the  south  side  of  the  Canal  Road. 

This  work  was  initiated  last  year  hj  an  appropriation  of  $5,000. 
The  commissioners,  in  then-  estimates  for  this  year,  mcluded  an  item 
of  $10,000  for  continuing  the  work.  The  House  authorized  the 
amount  which  the  commissioners  recommended.  Conditions,  how- 
ever, have  changed  very  recently.  There  have  been  two  additional 
breaks  in  the  waU,  one  within  the  last  week,  so  that  the  waU  which 
we  thought  could  be  repaired  gradually  over  a  period  of  years  has 
shown  itself  to  be  so  weak  that  it  ought  to  be  completely  repaired  as 
quickl}'  as  possible. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  Does  that  necessitate  the  relaying  of  the 
whole  wall  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  It  necessitates  the  relaying  of  about  2,000  feet  of  wall. 
The  wall  is  a  loose  rubble  wall,  founded  partly  on  rock  and  partly  on 
earth,  and  it  is  gradually  caving  into  the  canal.  We  have  had  four 
breaks  in  the  last  year.  We  are  proposing  to  replace  it  by  a  concrete 
wall,  and  have  aheady  undertaken  the  work  in  a  small  way.  The 
estimated  cost  of  the  total  work  to  be  done  is  $50,000—2,000  feet  of 
wall,  at  $25  a  lineal  foot.  We  ask  that  this  item  be  increased  to 
$25,000.  We  feel  that  that  amount  can  be  advantageously  and 
economically  expended  during  the  next  year.  As  I  say,  it  is  not 
covered  by  any  estimate,  but  is  a  special  case.  The  last  break  de- 
veloped in  the  storm  of  last  week. 


142  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

AQL^EDUCT    BRIDGE. 

Senator  Smith.  What  is  the  next  item  ?  ^ 

Col.  KuTZ.  On  page  30,  hne  20,  in  the  item  of  $45,000  for  the  con- 
struction and  repair  of  bridges,  we  should  like  to  insert  the  following 
language: 

And  this  appropriation  shall  be  available  for  the  maintenance  and  repair  of  the 
superstructnre  of  the  present  Aqueduct  Bridge  across  the  Potomac  River. 

That  was  the  intention  when  the  item  of  $45,000  was  prepared. 
We  do  not  ask  for  any  additional  money,  but  merely  to  make  it  clear 
that  this  item  shall  be  available  for  that  purpose.  The  need  for  it 
is  due  to  tlte  fact  that  in  connection  with  the  appropriation  for  the 
new  Aqueduct  Bridge  Congress  appropriated,  in  response  to  an  esti- 
mate made  by  the  local  engineer  officer  of  a  special  fund  for  the 
repair  of  piers,  an  item  of  $25,000  which  is  not  specially  limited  to 
work  on  the  piers;  and  to  render  the  matter  clear  we  should  like  to 
have  it  understood  that  this  $45,000,  which  has  already  been  accepted 
by  the  House  shall  be  available  in  part  for  the  superstructure  of  the 
Aqueduct  Bridge.  The  matter  has  been  taken  up  with  the  War 
Department,  which  is  charged  with  the  care  of  the  bridge  piers. 

Senator  Smith.  Was  this  suggestion  made  to  the  House  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  Or  is  this  a  new  suggestion  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  This  is  a  matter  that  has  come  up  since. 

Senator  Smith.  Very  well.     What  is  the  next  matter,  please  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  The  water  department. 

enrollment  for  national  guard. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Senator,  there  are  one  or  two  supple- 
mental estimates  that  have  been  submitted  since  the  regular  estimates 
were  submitted,  and  which  have  been  transmitted  b}^  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  to  which  we  should  like  to  call  your  attention. 

The  first  is  an  estimate  of  $8,000  for  making  an  enrollment  of  citizens 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  for  the  National  Guard.  After  our 
estimates  had  been  sent  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  last  fall  the 
commanding  general  of  the  National  Guard  of  the  District  of  Columbia 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  commissioners  calling  their  attention  to  an  act 
of  Congress  of  1889  which  required  the  assessor  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  to  make  an  enrollment  of  all  male  adidts  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  for  the  National  Guard.  We  did  not  know,  at  the  time  we 
received  that  letter,  that  there  was  such  a  law.  Apparently  it  had 
never  been  administered.  We  investigated  the  matter  and  had  our 
corporation  counsel  look  into  it,  and  found  that  under  the  law  it  is 
mandatory  upon  the  assessor  to  keep  an  enrollment  of  all  people  in 
the  District  of  Columbia  who  are  subject  to  militia  duty.  Wo 
are  entirely  without  facilities  to  comply  with  that  law. 

Senator  Smith.   You  have  no  means  of  doing  this  work  ?    f 

Commissioner  Newman.  We  have  no  way  to  do  this  work  at  all 
with  our  present  organization.  We  had  an  estimate  made  by  the 
assessor  of  the  expense  of  making  that  enrollment.  He  estimates 
that  it  will  1)0  $8,000,  and  we  submitted  it  as  a  supplemental  esti- 
mate. Wc  should  like  to  have  it  included  in  the  bill.  It  is  a  duty 
mandatory  upon  the  assessor,  but  one  which  he  can  not  perform 
without  the  means  with  which  to  do  it. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  143 

PRINTING    REPORTS    OF    COMMISSIONERS,    ETC. 

Another  supplemental  estimate  is  one  of  $5,000  for  printing  the 
reports  of  the  commissioners  for  the  various  departments  and  officers 
of  the  District  government.  Until  recently  these  reports  have  been 
sent  to  the  Government  Printing  Office,  and  the  composition  or 
setting  up  of  the  type  has  been  done  bj^  the  Government  Printing 
Office  without  any  special  direct  charge  to  the  District  of  Columbia, 
but  this  coming  year  the  District  will  be  required  to  pay  for  the 
composition  as  well  as  for  the  printing,  and  we  estimate  that  the 
composition  expense  will  be  about  $5,000. 

Senator  Smith.  Why  should  it  not  go  on  as  it  has  in  the  past  ? 

Commissioner  Brownlow.  The  theory  has  been  that  as  these  re- 
ports were  made  to  Congress,  Congress  should  bear  the  expense  of 
composition. 

Commissioner  Newman.  The  Joint  Committee  on  Printing  have 
imposed  that  condition. 

Senator  Smith.  They  have  refused  to  continue  the'  printing  as 
heretofore  I 

Commissioner  Newman.  We  have  always  paid  for  the  printing  of 
the  reports. 

Senator  Smith.  But  the  composition  has  been  free  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  The  composition  has  been  done  without 
special  charge  to  the  District. 

Senator  Smith.  Now  the  Printing  Committee  require  vou  to  pay 
for  both  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  They  require  us  to  pay  for  both;  yes. 

Senator  Smith.  Wliat  is  the  next  matter  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  We  come  next  to  the  water  department. 
Senator. 

WATER    SERVICE. 

Senator  Dillingham.  What  page  is  that  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  Page  88.  The  jurisdiction  over  the  water  service  is 
divided  between  the  War  Department  and  the  District  commis- 
sioners. The  War  Department  has  jurisdiction  over  the  acqueduct 
and  the  filtration  plant,  and  the  commissioners  have  charge  of  the 
distribution.  Heretofore  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  aqueduct  and 
filtration  plant  has  been  covered  by  a  special  appropriation  under  the 
half-and-half  S3^stem,  expended  directly  by  the  War  Department. 
The  cost  of  maintaining  the  pumping  plants  and  the  distribution 
53'stem  has  been  paid  out  of  the  water  revenues. 

This  year  the  House  changes  the  arrangement  which  has  existed 
heretofore,  and  provides  that  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  aqueduct 
and  filtration  plant  shall  be  paid  out  of  water  revenues.  Now,  that 
means  one  of  two  things,  either  that  the  water  rates  must  be  increased 
to  cover  the  additional  expenditure,  or  that  the  work  of  extending 
the  system  must  stop,  or  must  go  ahead  more  slowly. 

Senator  Smith.  You  say  the  revenues  are  not  sufficient  to  take 
care  of  the  W^ar  Department  aqueduct  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  Not  to  do  that  and  proceed  with  the  laying  of  mains 
to  meet  the  growing  demands  for  water  as  we  have  done  in  the  past. 
We  have  just  about  nmde  ends  meet.  During  a  period  of  years  we 
have  at  times  been  forced  to  come  to  Congress  tor  loans  to  make 


144  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

special  extensions.  Those  loans  were  usually  made  with  the  under- 
standing .that  they  would  be  paid  back  during  a  term  of  years,  but 
this  means  taking  $133,000  a  year  out  of  water  revenues,  and  means 
a  reduction  in  our  projects  for  expenditure  of  just  that  amount. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  S133,000  a  year  would  be 
required  for  the  War  Department  service  ^ 

Col.  Kltz.  Yes,  sir;  that  is  the  amount  that  is  appropriated. 

There  is  an  item  on  page  91,  at  the  bottom  of  the  page,  line  20, 
as  follows : 
For  the  fiscal  year  1917 — 

Presumably  meanmg  1918 — 

and  annually  thereafter,  estimates  in  detail  shall  be  submitted  for  the  appropriations 
required  for  "continuing  the  extension  and  maintenance  of  the  high  service  system  of 
water  distribution. 

We  feel  that  if  that  language  is  left  in  the  biU,  but  the  aqueduct 
and  filtration  items  appropriated  for  just  as  they  have  been  in  the 
past,  a  year  hence  we  can  intelligently  start  under  the  new  system. 
In  other  words,  we  can  submit  our  estimates  for  the  next  year  and 
Congress  can  then  directly  appropriate  what  is  necessary  for  the 
extensions,  if  anything  is  necessary,  other  than  those  that  can  be 
paid  out  of  the  water  fund.  But  to  insert  these  items  under  the 
water  fund  this  year,  without  making  any  dhect  appropriation  for 
extensions  is  going  to  handicap  the  system  for  one  year. 

Senator  Dillingham.  What  is  the  amendment  you  propose  ? 

Col.  Kltz.  We  suggest  that  the  items  for  the  Washmgton  aqueduct 
and  filtration  plant,  on  page  88,  lines  23  to  25,  inclusive,  and  page  89, 
lines  1  to  15,  inclusive,  be  appropriated  for  as  heretofore,  and  that 
the  language  on  page  91  be  retained,  merel}^  making  it  the  fiscal  year 
1918  instead  of  1917.  That  would  give  us  a  year  in  which  to  get 
ready  for  the  new  system,  submit  our  estimates  in  detail  to  Congress, 
and  have  action  taken. 

There  are  two  other  items  in  connection  with  the  water  depart- 
ment. One  is  on  page  90,  line  1 — "master  mechanic,  .§2,000." 
This  master  mechanic  has  also  been  acting  as  a  member  of  the  board 
of  examiners  of  steam  engineers,  and  until  May,  1916,  he  has  been 
getting  S300  for  that  service  in  addition  to  his  S2, 000.  The  legisla- 
tive bill  which  became  a  law  in  May  forbade  the  payment  of  two 
salaries  to  any  one  individual  where  the  aggregate  amounted  to 
more  than  .§2,000,  unless  specially  authorized  by  Congress.  We  should 
like  to  get  specific  authorization  for  a  continuance  of  the  payment 
of  S300  to  this  man. 

Senator  Smith.  The  payment  of  $300  for  the  service  he  renders  as 
an  examiner  of  steam  engineers  ?     Is  that  right  ( 

Col.  KuTZ.  Yes,  sir.  It  is  the  examining  board  for  hcensing 
steam  engineers;  and  the  language  that  we  suggest  is  the  insertion, 
after  "$2,000,"  of  the  words  "and  $300  additional  as  a  member  of 
the  board  of  examiners,  steam  engineei-s."  That  will  th^n  make 
necessary  a  corresponding  change  on  page  11,  line  8,  because  it  will 
only  be  necessary  to  provide  there  for  two  members  of  the  board  at 
$300,  instead  of  three. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  It  makes  no  (hfference  at  all  in  the 
amount  appropriated. 

Col.  KuTZ.  No;  it  makes  no  dift'erence  in  the  amount  of  money 
appropriated. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  145 

Senator  Smith.  It  makes  no  extra  appropriation,  except  to  allow 
him  what  he  has  been  heretofore  getting  i 

Col.  KuTz.  Yes,  sir. 

On  hne  13,  page  90,  under  '"Contingent  expenses,''  the  commis- 
sioners would  like  to  suggest  an  increase  in  the  amount  from  $4,800 
to  S7,200. 

Senator  Smith.  For  what  reason  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  Heretofore  and  for  a  number  of  years  the  water  depart- 
ment has  maintained  a  small  printing  press,  has  paid  the  skilled 
laborers  to  operate  the  press,  out  of  the  appropriation  for  high  service, 
and  has  purchased  the  materials  for  printing,  paper,  and  ink  from  the 
contingent  fund.  Under  a  recent  ruling  of  the  auditor,  the  employ- 
ment of  printers  or  men  acting  as  printers  out  of  any  fund  than  the 
contingent  fund  is  held  to  be  contrary  to  the  rec|uirements  of  this 
appropriation;  in  other  words,  that  the  item  for  contingent  expenses 
must  bear  all  the  costs  of  printing,  labor,  as  well  as  materials. 

This  does  not  involve  an  increased  appropriation.  It  merely 
means  that  a  part  of  the  general  appropriation  for  high  service  is 
specifically  set  aside  for  contingent  expenses,  and  makes  no  change 
in  the  practice  that  has  existed  for  many  years  past,  but  corrects 
what  the  auditor  believes  is  a  defect  in  our  practice. 

Senator  Smith.  At  the  same  time,  you  are  asking  for  an  additional 
appropriation  of  S2,400. 

Col.  KuTZ.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  Has  that  been  cut  down  in  proportion? 

Col.  KuTZ.  On  page  91  the  balance  that  is  not  specifically  appro- 
priated is  appropriated  for  continuing  the  extension  and  maintenance 
of  the  high  service,  so  that,  by  increasing  the  general  item  of  con- 
tingent expenses  $2,400,  the  balance  will  be  reduced  by  a  corres- 
sponding  amount. 

Commissioner  Newman.  We  will  have  just  that  much  less  to  spend 
for  that  purpose. 

HOLIDAYS    FOR    PER    DIEM    AXD    DAY    LABORERS. 

Col.  KuTz.  On  page  92  the  commissioners  included  in  their  esti- 
mates an  item  that  was  not  included  in  the  bill  as  prepared  by  the 
House.  It  provides  for  giving  per-diem  employees  legal  holidays 
with  pay.  The  per-diem  employees  of  the  District  of  Columbia  re- 
ceive only  one  holiday  in  the  entire  year  for  which  they  are  paid, 
and  that  is  Labor  Day.  We  feel  that  they  are  discriminated  against 
in  comparison  with  Federal  employees,  who  are  allowed  the  usual 
legal  holidays,  and  are  paid  for  those  days,  but  the  District  employees 
get  only  the  one  day — Labor  Day.  We  ask  for  the  insertion  of  the 
following  amendment : 

That  all  per-diem  employees  and  day  laborers  of  the  District  of  Columbia  who  have 
been  continuously  employed  for  five  workino:  days  next  preceding  such  days  as  are 
legal  holidays  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  whose  employment  continues  through 
and  beyond  said  legal  holidays,  may,  in  the  discretion  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  be  granted  leaA-e  of  absence  with  pay  for  said  legal  holidays. 

This  will  merely  put  them  on  the  same  basis  as  Federal  per  diem 
employees. 

45737—16 10 


146  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Smith.  As  I  understand,  you  ask  that  day  laborers,  who  are 
employed  by  the  District  from  day  to  day,  shall  be  allowed  the 
same  privilege  as  Federal  employees  of  the  same  class  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  Regardless  of  how  long  they  have  been  in  your 
employ  ? 

Col.  KcTZ.  If  they  have  been  employed  for  five  days  next  preced- 
ing the  holiday. 

Senator  Smith.  Then  they  shall  be  allowed  how  much  holiday? 

Col.  KuTZ.  They  shall  be  allowed  the  one  day — that  is,  the  day 
following  that  period. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  That  is,  if  thej'  continue  to  serve  after  that. 

Col.  KuTZ.  If  they  continue  to  serve  after  that. 

Commissioner  Browxlow.  This  refers  to  such  days  as  the  Fourth 
of  July,  Christmas,  and  Thanksgiving. 

Senator  Dillingham.  That  would  cover  your  snow  handlers  on  the 
streets  preceding  Christmas  ? 

Col.  KtTTZ.  It  would  cover  everybody;  yes,  sir.  Practically  all 
the  snow  handling  is  done  by  the  "white  wings,"  who  work  contin- 
uously throughout  the  year.  The  last  two  years  we  have  employed 
no  extra  labor  for  snow  handlers.  We  believe  that  the  same  condi- 
tions surround  the  employment  of  per  diem  men  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  as  surround  Federal  employees,  and  they  are  all  paid  for  legal 
holidays. 

That  is  all  we  have,  sir. 

STATEMENT  OF  JOHN  JOY  EDSON  AND  GEOEGE  M.  KOBEE, 
MEMBEES,  AND  GEOEGE  S.  WILSON,  SECEETAEY,  OF  THE 
BOAED  OF  CHAEITIES  OF  THE  DISTEICT  OF   COLUMBIA. 

Senator  Smith.  As  I  understand,  1\h\  Wilson  wishes  to  be  heard. 

Mr.  WiLSOX.  Mr.  Edson.  the  president  of  the  board,  would  like 
to  make  a  preliminary  statement  on  charities  and  corrections. 

Senator  Smith.  Gentlemen,  we  do  not  want  unnecessarily  to  cut 
you  short,  but  3"ou  must  remember  that  we  have  only  about  10  days 
left  of  the  fiscal  year,  and  we  should  like  very  much  to  get  through 
with  this  hearing,  so  that  we  can  come  to  some  conclusion  about 
this  bill  and  get  it  throuo;h.  In  order  to  do  that,  we  shall  have  to 
work  with  considerable  dispatch. 

SITE    FOE    MfXICIPAL    HOSPITAL. 

Mr.  Edsox.  There  is  just  one  very  important  matter  about  which 
I  wish  to  ask  a  few  minutes'  indulgence.  All  the  items  of  the  Board 
of  Charities  have  been  gone  over  very  carefully  by  the  board;  but 
one  of  the  membei*s  of  the  board.  Dr.  Kobcr,  and  our  secretary,  will 
give  the  details  as  we  go  along. 

The  matter  to  which  I  wish  to  call  the  committee's  attention  is 
the  site  for  the  municipal  hospital.  I  have  been  a  member  of  the 
board  ever  since  it  was  organized.  Most  of  that  time  we  have  been 
endeavoring  to  secure  a  municipal  hospital  to  take  the  place  of  the 
Asylum  Hospital.  It  is  one  of  the  'nost  humane  demands  of  Wasli- 
ington  at  this  time,  and  has  been  for  many  years.  It  is  a  part  of 
the  community  that  has  not  been  provided  for. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  Those  of  us  who  have  investigated  it  fully 
appreciate  that  fact. 


DISTKTCT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  147 

Mr.  Edsox.  Our  board  hiive  felt  this  very  keenly,  and  from  year 
to  year  they  have  come  up  to  Congress  and  urged  that  this  be  pro- 
vided for.  Finally  they  did  appropriate  money  to  secure  a  site. 
The  commissionei-s,  in  my  opinion,  were  very  fortunate  in  the  site 
that  they  secured.  It  seemed  to  Congress  at  the  time,  however,  that 
it  was  out  of  town,  but  on  one  occasion  I  said  to  the  committees  that 
it  would  not  be  a  great  many  years  before  our  children  would  see 
that  site  in  the  center  of  the  town. 

Senator  Dillingham.  That  is  the  site  of  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital 
at  the  present  tune? 

Ml',  Edson.  Yes,  sir.  The  commissioners  selected  32  acres,  and 
afterwards  two  or  three  more  acres.  I  thmk  it  now  amounts  to  35 
acres. 

In  aU  such  cities  as  Baltmiore,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston, 
Cleveland,  Chicago,  London,  Paris,  and  Vienna,  they  have  hospitals 
in  the  center  of  tlie  to^\^l,  but  with  little  or  no  grounds  around  them. 
Some  of  them  are  in  blocks.  Some  have  very  little  ground.  Most 
fortunately,  however,  in  this  instance  there  was  a  tract  of  35-  acres 
secured  which  will  be  in  the  center  of  the  city,  and  convenient  for  the 
admmistration  of  this  hospital. 

Some  of  our  fellow  citizens  have  raised  an  obj^ection  to  this  site.  I 
have  not  said  anything  about  it  in  public.  This  is  the  first  that  I  have 
had  to  say  about  it,  except  in  our  board. 

Those  people  are  greatly  mistaken.  They  apprehend  an  imaginary 
objection,  in  my  judgment. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  you  speak  of  the  site  in  connection  with  the 
Tuberculosis  Hospital  ? 

IV'Ii'.  Edson.  Yes;  what  will  be  the  Municipal  Hospital.  It  may  be 
that  some  day  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital  will  go  farther  into  the 
country;  but  the  main  thing  that  we  want  to  accomplish  is  to  secure 
a  municipal  hospital  for  the  people  that  are  down  at  the  asylum. 

Senator  Smith.  Then,  if  I  understand  it,  your  judgment  is  that 
the  selection  of  the  site  in  connection  with  the  property  at  the 
Tuberculosis  Hospital  is  a  proper  selection? 

IVIi'.  Edson.  That  it  is  a  wise  and  a  proper  selection.  Now^,  all  I 
wish  to  say  is  this ; 

These  people,  I  think,  are  apprehending  an  imaginary  objection  to 
this  site.  I  will  give,  you  an  illustration.  A  short  time  ago  a  man 
left  a  large  amount  of  money  to  build  a  home  for  old  gentlemen. 
The  company  with  which  I  am  connected  was  made  the  trustee,  and 
I  particularly  had  charge  of  the  establishment  of  that  home.  We 
selected  a  place  just  beyond  this  place — 5  acres — to  build  this  home 
for  old  gentlemen.  After  it  was  selected,  many  objections  came  in 
to  this  home  being  built  there  from  these  very  people  and  this  very 
association.  They  WTOte  me  letters  and  protests,  and  aU  that  'sort 
of  thing.  I  was  just  as  certain  then  as  I  am  now^  that  they  did  not 
know  what  they  were  about.  One  signed  his  name,  "Yours,  with  the 
loss  of  all  respect,"  because  I  insisted  upon  this  home  being  located 
there.  The  home  is  built.  It  is  a  very  beautiful  home.  In  the 
grounds  about  it  are  flowers  and  shrubbery  and  seats,  and  it  is  the 
most  beautiful  place  in  that  section  of  the  city. 

I  apply  that  very  situation  to  this  hospital.  Here  is  a  hospital 
unlike  any  other  in  all  the  cities  that  I  know  of  where  these  municipal 
hospitals  are  located.     It  has  this  large  acreage.     The  buildings  are 


148  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

going  to  be  of  a  good  class.  They  are  going  to  be  in  the  center  of 
this  property,  practically,  well  laid  out.  There  will  be  walks,  there 
will  be  trees  and  shrubbery  and  seats  and  fountains — everything  to 
make  it  attractive;  and  if  these  people  knew  what  it  will  be,  they 
would  petition  you  to  have  the  buildings  erected  on  the  present  site. 

Senator  Smith.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  it  does  not  matter  where 
you  might  select  a  place  for  a  municipal  hospital;  there  would  be  an 
objection  to  it  on  the  part  of  somebody. 

Mr.  Edsox.  I  have  no  doubt  of  it;  and  where  you  would  go,  I  do 
not  know. 

Senator  Smith.  And  especially  on  the  part  of  the  people  in  that 
locality.  The  fact  of  its  being  a  hospital  for  the  poor,  I  suppose, 
of  itself  would  raise  an  objection  on  the  part  of  the  people  in  that 
locality,  would  it  not  ? 

Mr.  Edson.  In  any  locality. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Mr.  Edson,  I  think  I  know  precisely  what 
thek  thought  was  about  it.  I  was  invited  by  a  friend  who  lives  out 
there  to  go  out  one  day.  I  drove  out  and  I  was  rather  surprised  to 
see  the  extent  and  character  of  that  neighborhood.  A  large  number 
of  modest  homes  have  gone  up,  detached  houses.  They  really  have 
a  very  fine  community  beyond  this  site,  and  they  are  panic-stricken 
over  the  idea  of  having  a  municipal  hospital  there,  ^^dlich  they  say 
is  going  to  be  filled  up  largely  witli  colored  people ;  and  the  poor  of 
the  city,  they  think,  are  going  to  float  on  to  them  and  are  going  to 
injure  their  property.  That  is  the  thought  they  have.  Especially, 
I  think,  their  minds  dwell  upon  the  number  of  colored  patients  that 
will  be  treated.     What  have  you  to  say  about  that? 

Mr.  Edson.  I  think  the  objection  that  they  imagine  is  not  well 
founded.  You  take  Washington  City  from  First  Street  to  Fourteenth 
Street  and  north  of  M  Street  or  N  Street  and  it  is  filled  with  colored 
people  clear  up — that  is,  not  to  the  Saul  subdivision  to  which  you 
refer.  It  is  going  to  be  the  colored  portion  of  our  city.  It  is  to-day, 
and  is  going  to  be.  Now,  there  would  not  be  1  per  cent  of  the  number 
of  sick  people  or  undesirable  people,  colored  people,  going  in  and  out 
on  the  cars  or  in  that  hospital  that  there  wiU  be  in  everyday  expe- 
rience. You  do  not  add  anything  of  any  consequence  in  that  respect 
to  that  section,  and  they  overestimate  that  trouble  largely. 

Since  this  hospital  has  located  there — that  .is,  the  site — all  those 
buildings  have  been  erected,  every  one  of  them,  and  built  up  all 
around  it.  If  I  were  going  to  build  a  residence  fronting  on  this  site, 
I  would  rather  have  this  hospital  there  than  not  to  have  it,  because 
I  would  have  those  beautiful  grounds ;  and  I  think  they  are  mistaken 
about  that. 

Take  Vienna,  for  instance,  if  you  have  been  in  Vienna,  Austria. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  have. 

Mr.  Edson.  The  hospital  there  has  the  finest  residences  in  the  city 
around  it.  They  have  no  objection  to  it.  As  far  as  the  colored 
people  are  concerned,  their  things  will  be  kept  scrupulously  iT^'at,  and 
everything  will  be  sanitary  in  the  administration  of  this  hospital. 

There  is  one  thing  that  I  feel  very  keenly  about  in  this  matter. 
I  have  been  on  this  board  for  a  long  time.  I  believe  I  am  the  only 
member  now  on  the  board  who  was  appointed  when  it  was  organized. 
Every  member  of  that  board  from  the  time  it  was  organized,  every 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  149 

commissioner  since  that  board  was  organized  in  1S90,  has  urged  this 
municipal  hospital  in  behalf  of  humanity. 

Senator  Smith.  There  is  not  any  question  in  regard  to  it.  I  think 
the  hospital  that  they  have  here  now  is  a  disgrace  to  the  city. 

Mr.  Edsox.  Here  we  are  up  to  this  point.  We  have  the  site,  and 
here  is  another  serious  objection  that  is  going  to  throw  us  over  maybe 
for  5  or  10  or  15  years  longer. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  asked  the  question  that  I  did  merely  to 
clear  the  air.  They  made  the  suggestion  to  me  that  the  hospital 
might  be  located  on  the  reservation  where  the  old  buildings  now  are. 
That  was  the  only  suggestion  they  could  make  of  a  change.  I  asked 
them  where  the  hospital  might  properly  be  located  other  than  on 
this  site,  and  that  was  their  suggestion.     Wliat  do  you  saj^  to  that  ? 

Mr.  Edsox.  What  I  have  to  say  to  that  is  that  that  reservation 
interferes  with  the  extension  of  the  avenues  and  streets.  The  jail 
or  the  hospital  never  should  have  been  located  there;  and  at  the  time 
when  we  got  this  up  there  was  objection  on  the  part  of  the  District 
and  the  General  Government  and  Congress  itself  to  locating  it  there. 
As  far  as  the  Board  of  Charities  are  concerned,  or  I  myself,  as  far  as 
the  hospital  is  concerned,  if  they  should  build  the  hospital  there  I 
would  be  perfectly  satisfied.  What  we  are  after  is  a  hospital.  What 
we  want  to  see  is  something  that  will  be  to  the  credit  of  the  capital. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  We  are  all  after  that. 

Mr.  Edsox.  Yes;  but  if  we  are  going  to  be  interfered  with  in  this 
way,  and  objections  are  going  to  be  raised  at  all  times  to  one  place 
or  another,  we  are  going  to  have  great  difficulty  in  getting  anything. 
I  know  a  great  many  people  out  there.  I  have  not  talked  with  them 
much.  I  have  offered  to  talk  with  them,  but  they  have  not  invited 
me  to  go  out  there  to  speak  to  the  association.  If  they  had,  I  would 
have  talked  to  them  just  as  I  am  talking  to  you.  I  believe  that  no 
site  that  you  will  ever  select  will  be  so  appropriate  and  so  convenient 
and  suitable  in  every  respect  as  the  site  that  has  been  selected  by 
the  commissioners. 

Commissioner  Newmax.  Senator  Smith,  with  your  permission,  I 
should  like  to  make  a  brief  statement  on  this  same  subject. 

Fii-st,  answering  Senator  Dillhigham's  question  about  reservation 
13,  which  it  was  suggested  to  him  might  be  used,  I  think  there  is  no 
doubt  but  that  the  degree  of  feeling  against  a  hospital  on  that  site 
is  just  as  great  among  the  people  of  that  section  as  the  degree  of  feeling 
among  the  people  in  the  vicinity  of  Fourteenth  and  Upshur  Streets. 
There  are  not  so  many  of  them,  so  that  the  feeling  will  not  be  so 
apparent,  but  the  depth  of  their  feeling  is  just  as  strong;  so  that  a 
pro]>osal  now  to  change  the  site  and  put  the  buildings  there  would 
produce  exactly  the  same  sort  of  situation  that  we  have  with  refer- 
ence to  the  site  at  Fourteenth  and  Upshur  wStreets. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  Does  this  result  from  having  had  them  there  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  No;  not  particularly  from  having  had  the 
hospital  there:  more  particularlv  from  having  had  the  jail  there, 
the  smallpox  detention  hospital,  the  leper  detention  camp,  the  cre- 
matory, and  the  other  things,  rather  than  the  hospital,  although  the 
feeling  spreads  over  to  and  includes  the  hospital. 

Another  objection  is  that  logically  that  area  will  come  within  the 
Anacostia  parking  plan.     When  those  flats  are  reclaimed,  and  that 


150  DISTKICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

parkway  is  made  up  on  both  sides  of  the  Anacostia  River,  Reserva- 
tion 13  should  fall  within  that  beautification  area. 

Another  clement  in  the  situation  is  this:  The  site  upon  which  it  is 
now  proposed  to  build  the  hospital  was  purchased  in  1900.  For  16 
j-ears  every  one  who  has  bought  and  built  in  that  neighborhood  must 
have  done  so  with  the  k^iowledge  of  what  was  contemplated.  Since 
1906  the  first  unit  of  this  hospital  has  been  in  existence  up  there. 
Now,  there  was  identically  the  same  protest  against  building  the 
Tuberculosis  Hospital  there  that  there  is  now  about  building  this 
general  hospital,  and  vet  the  events  since  1906  have  shown  that  that 
apprehension  was  not  well  founded,  because  it  has  in  no  way  retarded 
the  development  of  the  community.  That  communit}"  has  gone 
right  up  there,  and  has  partially  surrounded,  at  least  on  the  south 
and  west,  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital,  entirely  irrespective  of  the  fact 
that  it  is  there. 

Another  thing  which  occurs  to  me,  which  I  have  thought  about  a 
good  deal  in  connection  with  this  matter,  is  this,  and  it  is  the  result 
of  observation  of  the  development  of  cities,  not  only  here  but  in  a 
great  many  <'ities  in  the  United  States.  I  have  Uved  and  worked 
as  a  newspaper  man  in  nine  different  American  cities,  and  my  observa- 
tion causes  me  to  believe  that  a  thing  of  this  kind  does  not  affect  the 
development,  the  trend  of  population  of  a  city.  I  do  not  know  what 
it  is;  I  do  not  believe  anybody  knows  what  it  is  that  causes  cities  to 
grow  in  any  particular  direction,  but  when  a  town  starts  to  dcA^elop 
in  some  particular  direction,  nothing  can  stop  it.  You  might  put 
your  jail  up  there,  or  no  matter  what  you  put  there;  if  the  trend  of 
development  of  a  city  is  in  a  certain  direction,  it  is  going  to  go  that 
way,  in  spite  of  anything  that  is  done. 

This  particular  kind  of  a  public  institution,  when  we  consider  that 
we  have  .35  acres  there,  I  sincerely  believe  will  be  a  benefit  rather 
than  a  detriment  to  the  community.  Two  years  ago  we  obtained  an 
appropriation  of  $15,000  for  plans  for  a  hospital  to  be  built  on  that 
site.  We  have  expended  that  money.  We  have  the  detailed  plans 
made  ready,  to  go  ahead — $15,000  expended  in  plans  contemplating 
the  use  of  that  site. 

Senator  Dillingham.  How  many  buildings  do  those  plans  con- 
template ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Oh,  there  must  be  a  dozen  or  fifteen. 

Mr.  Edson.  It  is  planned  to  meet  the  present  exigencies  with  a 
view  of  extending  them  in  the  future. 

Commissioner  Newman.  As  the  needs  require. 

Mr.  Edson.  As  they  increase. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Nobody  can  doubt  the  beauty  of  that  site. 

Mr.  Edson.  It  is  a  beautiful  site. 

Commissioner  Newinlan.  Tlie  buildings  will  harmonize  with  the 
beauty  of  the  city.  They  will  be  good-looking  buildings.  The 
grounds  will  be  a  park.  It  will  be  a  very  good-looking  place,  and  I 
think  a  benefit.  I  think  the  fear  of  damage  is  the  result  of  a  mis- 
apprehension. 

Senator  Smith.  It  seems  to  me  one  of  the  difficulties  of  getting 
improvements  in  the  city  of  Washington  is  that  as  soon  as  some  prop- 
osition is  made  your  various  boards  get  to  fighthig  each  other  as 
to  how  it  shall  be  done  and  where  it  shall  be  done.     There  is  a  want 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  151 

of  liarmony  among  the  ])oards  here  in  the  city  of  Washington.  That 
has  been  my  observation. 

Mr.  Edsox.  You  mean  the  citizens  associations? 

Senator  Smith.  Yes,  I  do. 

Mr.  Edsox.  Xot  the  official  boards? 

Senator  Smith.  They  can  not  agree  upon  the  plans.  They  do  not 
seem  to  have  any  concert  of  action,  if  you  will  pardon  me.  That  has 
been  my  observation,  and  it  has  been  a  detriment,  very  often,  to  the 
im])rovements  that  would  naturally  be  made  in  the  city. 

Commissioner  Newmax.  That  is  unfortunately  true. 

Senator  Smith.  It  is  a  misfortune. 

Commissioner  Xewmax.  In  this  j^articular  case,  the  two  boards 
which  have  had  responsil)ility  in  the  matter — the  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners and  the  Board  of  Charities — have  been  a  unit  on  this  thing 
ever  since  1900,  right  straight  through. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  Tlie  whole  question  about  this  matter  turns 
on  the  suggestion  made  ]:)y  Mr.  Edson,  as  to  whether  those  people 
are  right  or  wrong  in  their  conception  of  the  influence  of  this  hospital 
on  that  reservation. 

Mr.  Edsox.  I  can  sympathize  with  them,  gentlemen.  If  they  have 
that  apprehension,  1  can  sympathize  with  them,  but  they  are  entirely 
wrong.  When  the  hospital  is  built  and  those  grounds  are  improved, 
they  "will  be  ghad  they  are  there.  The  institution  will  add  to  the 
beauty  of  that  section  of  the  city  and  to  their  comfort  and  con- 
venience.    There  is  no  doubt  about  it. 

Commissioner  Newmax.  The  Tuberculosis  Hospital  is  on  the  west- 
ern end  of  this  tract. 

Mr.  Edsox.  It  is  on  the  ground  to  the  west  that  there  has  been  the 
greatest  development. 

Senator  Smith.  I  have  been  out  there.  I  have  been  over  the  whole 
ground,  and  it  struck  me  as  a  most  admirable  location. 

Mr.  Edsox.  It  is.     There  is  no  question  about  it. 

Senator  Smith.  The  two  hospitals  will  not  interfere  with  each  other 
at  all:  will  they  ? 

Mr.  Edsox.  Not  at  all. 

Senator  Smith.  They  are  too  far  apart? 

Mr.  Edsox.  They  are  too  far  apart. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  I  understand  that  there  is  to  be  a  street  put 
through  there  { 

Mr.  Edsox,  Yes.  It  goes  right  through  the  center,  from  north  to 
south. 

Dr.  KoBER.  I  may  say,  in  that  connection,  that  a  great  deal  of 
apprehension  has  been  expressed  by  the  citizens  as  to  the  travel  of 
patients  to  and  from  the  hospital.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  the  pa- 
tients will  be  transported  in  ambulances,  which  will  naturally  neces- 
sitate the  opening  of  Thirteenth  Street:  that  is  contemplated.  Con- 
sequently there  can  ])e  no  travel  of  the  kind  in  the  street  cars.  I  also 
wish  to  add  that  no  building  will  be  placed  within  200  feet  of  these 
broad  avenues.  Consequently  it  will  be  very  much  like  the  Walter 
Reed  Hospital,  which  is  farther  north  and  constitutes  a  distinct 
ornament  to  the  city. 

Mr.  Edsox.  I  would  suggest  that  if  you  could  visit  the  Walter 
Reed  Hospital  3'ou  could  see  how  this  hospital  will  appear,  only  we 
will  have  more  shrubbery  and  more  trees  and  things  of  that  sort. 


152  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Commissioner  Newman.  At  the  time  the  tract  for  the  Occoquan 
workhouse  was  purchased  there  was  terrific  opposition  on  the  part 
of  people  who  hved  in  that  section  at  the  idea  of  having  a  workhouse 
put  down  there  in  their  midst.  There  was  a  tract  of  1,100  acres 
purchased  for  the  workliouse,  and  it  was  done  against  the  vigorous 
opposition  of  the  people  of  that  co  mmunity.  Now,  there  was  a  penal 
institution,  not  a  hospital.  A  couple  of  years  ago  we  had  occasion 
to  purchase  a  little  additional  piece  of  land  to  add  to  our  original 
1,100  acres,  and  we  found  that  the  value  of  land  in  that  neighbor- 
hood had  just  doubled  in  the  five  years  the  institution  had  been 
down  there;  and  now  everybody  in  that  whole  section  of  Virginia  is 
an  enthusiastic  supporter  of  the  institution  and  delighted  to  have  it 
there.     That  was  a  penal  institution. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Gentlemen,  what  is  next  '. 

CHARITIES    and    CORRECTIONS. 

BOARD    OF   CHARITIES. 

Dr.  KoBER.  Mr.  Wilson  will  present  the  details  of  our  items 
Mr.  Chairman,  which  will  unquestionably  expedite  business. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maiyland.  We  hope  he  will  be  as  brief  as  possible. 
I  understand,  Mr.  Wilson,  you  have  had  a  hearing  in  the  House, 
and  your  views  have  been  presented  upon  the  subject  that  you  are 
now  to  talk  about  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  Then  is  it  necessary  to  supplement  that.  Is  there 
anything  in  your  mind  different  from  what  you  have  presented  to  the 
House  committee,  which  you  want  to  present  to  us  X 

Mr.  Wilson.  At  yowx  pleasure,  Mr.  Chairman,  we  should  hke  to 
emphasize  first  what  we  regard  as  the  more  absolutely  essential 
matters;  some  things  may  be  said  to  be  desirable  and  some  things 
are  almost  indispensable.  . 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  AU  right,  sir. 

Mr.  Wilson.  I  should  be  glad,  if  it  is  your  pleasure,  to  do  that. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  As  I  stated  before,  we  are  very 
anxious  to  get  all  the  information  we  can  in  as  short  a  time  as  possible. 

Mr.  Wilson.  I  am  sure  there  is  no  reason  why  I  should  occupy 
your  time  at  length. 

On  page  69  I  think  the  schedule  of  the  charities  beo;ins.  line  10.  Mr. 
Chairman,  there  are  a  number  of  items  there  that  tne  House  did  not 
report,  but  I  will  not  take  up  the  time  with  mentioning  more  than 
two  on  that  page. 

increase  of  salary  of  clerk. 

The  first  is  in  line  11,  where  we  have  asked  that  the  salary  of  a 
clerk  be  increased  from  SI ,200  to  -Si ,500.  I  just  want  to  say  that  that 
man  is  very  much  more  than  a  clerk.  He  is  the  man  in  charge  in  my 
absence,  and  the  department,  as  you  know,  is  a  large  department, 
having  pretty  close  supervision  over  expenditures  of  about  81,300,000 
a  year,  and  this  man  handles  the  business  in  that  department.  He  is 
what  would  be  known  technically  as  chief  clerk,  but  we  do  not  care 
about  the  title,  if  you  will  consider  his  responsibilities.  Among  other 
things,  he  has  to  be  a  registered,  qualified  physiciaiL  He  handles 
over  10,000  applications  a  year  of  these  people  who  now  have  free 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  153 

treatment  at  all  these  hospitals,  as  well  as  the  general  business 
of  the  office.  I  should  like  to  urge  that  as  strongly  as  I  can,  both  in 
justice  and  fairness  to  the  man  wlio  now  holds  the  office,  and  that  he 
may  not  be  lost  to  the  office. 

ADDITIONAL   INSPECTOR. 

The  other  items,  Mr.  Chairman,  are  important.  One  is  an  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  the  inspectors. 

Senator  Dillingham.  \^'liere  is  that? 

Mr.  Wilson.  That  is  in  the  next  line  on  page  69,  line  12.  When 
w«  get  an  increase  in  the  number  of  inspectors  we  have  always  been 
able  to  save  the  Government  money  by  eliminating  abuses;  so  that 
if  we  have  an  additional  inspector,  it  will  be  a  saving  to  the  Govern- 
ment. It  is  not  an  increase  in  salary,  but  an  increase  in  number  of 
employees. 

SALARIES    OF   DRIVERS. 

The  small  changes  in  salaries  of  drivers  made  in  line  13  are  in 
harmony  with  the  recommendation  of  the  commissioners  that  all 
drivers  should  be  put  upon  the  same  basis,  at  $840.  With  one  or 
two  exceptions  they  are  carried  at  that  rate  in  the  current  law  at 
$840.  Nine  hundred  dollars  is  recommended  for  the  man  who  is  in 
charge  of  the  stable.  We  have  there  a  stable  with  10  horses  and 
5  vehicles,  with  a  man  in  charge. 

PURCHASE    OF   MOTOR   AMBULANCES. 

The  next  item  that  we  regard  as  very  important  would  occur  after 
line  15.     It  reads: 

For  the  purchase  and  equipmeiit  of  three  motor  ambulances,  $6,750. 

Senator  Dillingham.  What  line  would  that  he  I 

Mr.  Wilson.  It  would  occur  after  line  15  in  the  bill.  The  board 
feels  very  strongly  that  the  time  has  come  when  you  should  make  the 
ambulance  service  more  efficient  ])y  the  introduction  of  the  more 
modern  motor  vehicles  to  take  the  place  of  horse-drawn  vehicles.  If 
it  is  warranted  in  any  service  it  would  seem  to  be  in  tlie  fire  depart- 
ment and  the  ambulance  service.  There  are  great  distances  to  cover, 
and  in  the  hot  weather  it  is  not  only  cruel  to  animals  but  to.  people 
because  we  can  not  make  time  going  6  and  8  and  10  miles  to  the  re- 
mote corners  of  the  District  with  the  old  horse-drawn  ambulance. 
We  would  urge  that  item  as  one  of  the  unusually  urgent  items. 

Reformatories  and  Correctional  Institutions. 

washington  asylum  and  jail. 

SALARY    OF   SUPERINTENDENT   OF    NURSING. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  passing  on  to  the  very  foot  of  that  paf^e,  I 
would  only  ask  attention  to  one  item  there,  and  that  is  in  the  last  line, 
the  salary  of  the  trained  nurse  who  shall  act  as  superintendent  of 
nursing,  which  we  recommend  to  be  increased  from  $1,000  to  1,200. 
We  have  had  great  difficult}'  in  securing,  and  have  been  unable  to 


154  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

retain,  a  superintendent  of  nursing  at  this  old  Washington  Asylum, 
at  the  present  salary.  Better  salaries  are  paid  in  other  hospitals,  and 
Dr.  Koher  can  assure  you  of  that  fact,  that  no  hospital  in  this  city  has 
as  arduous  a  task  as  that  of  the  superintendent  of  the  nurses,  who  is 
in  charge  of  the  training  of  the  nurses,  in  charge  of  this  large  hospital 
which  has  to  take  all  those  who,  for  one  reason  and  another,  are 
objectionable  to  other  hospitals,  which  can  choose  their  patients. 
It  is  a  very  important  and  arduous  position,  and  we  hope  3"ou  will 
consider  that. 

DIETITIAN'   (XEW). 

On  line  .3,  page  70,  we  would  urge  the  item  for  a  dietitian,  at  S600, 
which  was  omitted  in  the  House.  The  doctors  tell  us  that  if  we  can 
get  that  item  and  get  a  dietitian,  as  we  have  had  at  the  Tuberculosis 
Hospital,  the  amount  of  money  will  be  far  more  than  saved  in  the  food 
supplies  and  they  would  be  made  much  more  acceptable.  The  dieti- 
tian would  act  as  an  aid  to  the  cook.  It  would  be  her  business,  as  I 
understand  it,  to  stud}-  the  individual  needs  of  patients  whose  appe- 
tites are  capricious  and  try  to  cater  to  their  appetites,  so  that  they 
would  eat  the  food  that  is  needed  for  them;  and  it  makes  very  much 
for  discipline  and  satisfaction  among  the  patients,  and  we  have  found 
it  very  successful  where  we  have  tried  it  at  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital^ 

MAIXTENAXCE. 

Passing,  now,  down  to  line  18,  on  page  70,  to  the  item  for  general 
maintenance,  the  House  made  the  amount  of  that  fund  §45,000.  The 
estimate  was  S50,000. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  got  840,000  last  year? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes:  but  a  deficiencj-  of  -SO, 000  was  incurred. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  you  asked  for  S50,000  this  year 
and  they  gave  3"ou  •?45,0b0  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  They  gave  us  $45,000.  That  increased  estimate  is  due 
to  the  increase  in  number  of  patients:  and  as  we  are  obliged  to  receive 
them  whether  we  will  or  no,  deficiencies  have  been  incurred  and  would 
be.  You  have  always  willingly  met  these  deficiencies,  but  we  dislike 
to  incur  them.  If  this  amount  is  inadequate,  we  will  be  obliged  to 
incur  a  deficiency. 

There  are  several  other  items  there  that  are  of  less  importance, 
though  we  urge  them  aU,  and  we  will  pass  over  everything  that  I 
feel  not  to  be  of  very  particular  importance. 

SUPPORT    OF   PRISONERS. 

The  same  remark  applies,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  the  item  on  page  71, 
line  12,  for  support  of  prisoners.  If  the  amount  there  is  inadequate, 
of  course  we  are  obliged  to  maintain  these  prisoners  and  there  would 
be  a  deficiency. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Are  the  prisoners  increasing  in  number? 

Mr.  WiL.soN.  They  are  not  materially  increasing  in  number.  These 
are  prisoners  at  the  jail,  where  they  are  held  only  awaiting  trial  or 
deportation  to  penal  institutions  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 
T^4len  they  are  convicted  they  are  sent  to  other  institutions,  so  that 
the  numbers  are  not  markedly  increasing. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  155 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  They  have  given  you  $4,000  more 
than  you  had  last  year. 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes.  The  estmiate  was  $52,000.  The  amount  needed 
will  be  between  $50,000  and  $52,000.  We  can  not  tell  a  year  and  a 
half  in  advance  within  a  closer  range  than  that. 

HOME    FOR    AGED    AND    INFIRM. 
SALARY   OF   SUPERINTENDENT, 

In  line  IS  of  that  same  page  we  would  like  to  urge  very  strongly  the 
increase  in  the  salary  of  the  superintendent  of  the  Home  for  the 
Aged  and  Infirm  which  is  recommended  there,  from  $1,200  to  $1,600. 
That  man  has  been  with  us  now  some  eight  years,  and  he  is  one  of  the 
most  efficient  men  that  we  have  been  fortunate  enough  to  secure 
and  his  salary  is  very  low  as  compared  with  salaries  for  similar 
positions  both  in  this  and  other  communities. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  many  inmates  have  you  in  that 
institution  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  A  little  over  300.  The  maximum  has  only  touched 
350  in  the  winter,  and  then  it  o-oes  dowm  to  about  300  in  the  summer 
time.  It  is  on  a  large  tract  of  300  acres,  and  that  man  has  made  it 
wonderfully  productive.  He  is  the  most  successful  farmer  and  the 
most  successful  man  we  have  in  the  general  outside  property  work  in 
any  of  our  institutions. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  he  suprintendent  of  the  farm,  and 
does  he  look  after  the  agricultural  interests  'I 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes;  he  is  very  expert  in  the  direction  of  the  farm 
and  the  management  of  it.  Tliat  is  one  of  the  institutions  you  would 
be  delighted  to  visit.  You  would  be  pleased  to  see  what  has  been 
done  there. 

Mr.  Chairman,  those  little  items  in  the  lines  at  the  bottom  of  the 
page  we  recommend,  and  we  urge  all  of  them.  They  have  been 
carefully  considered.  But  we  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  take  your 
time  with  them  now,  as  we  dwelt  on  them  in  the  House. 

REPAIRS   AND   IMPROVEMENTS. 

Going  to  page  72,  the  same  would  apply.  We  would  like  to  urge 
the  item  on  lines  10  and  11,  on  page  72:  ''For  repairs  and  improve- 
ments to  buildings  and  grounds."  The  amount  should  be  increased 
to  the  estimate  of  $3,000.  It  is  a  very  large  plant  there  and  unfor- 
tunately the  original  buildings  were  not  as  good  as  they  should  have 
been.  The  appropriation  was  limited,  and  the  material — the  wood- 
work— was  of  a  too  cheap  grade,  and  our  superintendent  has  done  a 
wonderful  work  in  reconstructing.  He  is  substituting  cement 
porches  for  wooden  porches,  for  instance,  and  that  sort  of  thing. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Have  you  been  getting  this  amount 
in  the  item  for  repairs  yearly  ? 

^Ir.  Wilson,  ^o,  Mr.  Chairman.  A  few  years  ago  it  was  $3,000, 
and  it  has  been  cut  down. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  But  there  has  been  an  appropriation 


156  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATION    BILL,1917. 

Mr.  WiLsox.  Yes,  Mr.  Chairman;  and  at  each  mstitution  that 
item  is  based  upon  the  things  necessary  in  each  case.  We  think 
$3,000  woidd  be  a  reasonable  amount,  not  for  any  extraordinary 
repairs,  but  as  an  annual  allowance. 

REPLACING   ELECTRIC   GENERATORS. 

There  is  an  item  here  which  was  omitted,  which  would  probably 
come  in  after  line  14:  "For  purchase  and  installation  of  two  electric 
generators,  .55,000."  That  is  on  the  slip  pasted  on  the  side  of  page 
72.  The  board  regards  that  as  very  important,  and  if  the  engineer 
commissioner  was  here  he  would  urge  it,  as  he  did  before  the  House 
committee,  and  I  will  ask  you  to  be  good  enough  to  look  at  the 
House  hearing  for  that.  These  are  the  original  generators,  and  are 
near  the  end  of  their  life.  We  have  maintained  them  as  long  as  we 
can.  This  institution  is  located  in  an  isolated  community,  where  we 
can  not  get  public  service,  and  these  generators  are  used  for  pumping 
water  and  making  light,  and  it  would  be  a  very  unfortunate  thing 
if  a  break  should  occur  there  before  we  were  ready  to  install  some 
new  service. 

ERECTION'   AND   FURNISHING   OF  CHAPEL. 

The  appropriation  there  omitted  for  the  chapel  is  exceedingly  de- 
sirable and  would  be  well  spent  if  you  can  give  it.  It  is  not  so  urgent 
in  the  sense  of  absolute  necessity.  The  inmates  meet  in  the  dining 
room  when  we  have  a  meeting  for  religious  services  or  otherwise. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marvland.  Plow  many  inmates  did  you  say  this 
institution  has  ? 

Mr.  WiLSOX.  Three  hundred  and  fifty  inmates. 

ERECTION   OF  PIGGERY. 

The  third  item  in  the  slip  on  the  side  of  the  page  is,  ''For  purchase 
of  material  and  erection  of  piggery,  $500."  In  view  of  this  man's 
successful  management  of  the  farm,  we  urge  that.  It  would  very 
much  enlarge  his  operations  in  the  raising  of  pork,  which,  of  course, 
contributes  to  the  food  supply.  I  would  say  that  since  1911  at  this 
institution,  with  a  very  largely  increased  population  and  with  greatly 
increased  prices  of  food  supplies  we  have  never  increased  the  general 
maintenance  fund,  and  we  are  not  asking  you  to  do  it  now,  because 
so  far  this  superintendent  has  been  able  to  bring  the  farm  up  and  add 
to  the  food  supply  to  meet  the  increased  need,  and  the  inmates  have 
increased  from  280  to  nearly  350.  The  farming  operations  have  been 
very  successful,  and,  of  course,  the  food  supply  not  only  costs  us  less 
but  is  so  much  better.  These  old  folks,  many  of  whom  can  not  eat 
the  meat  we  buy,  are  weU  served  with  the  fresh  vegetables  we  get 
there  on  the  farm.  I  think  on  that  page  there  is  nothing  further  we 
want  to  specially  call  attention  to. 

XATIOXAL    TRAIXIXG    SCHOOL    FOR    GIRLS. 

The  next  is  in  line  IS,  page  72,  the  National  Training  School  for 
Girls.  Mr.  Chapin  Brown,  the  president,  will  possibly  ask  to  be  heard 
on  their  account.  They  have  several  items  for  the  purchase  of  land, 
etc.     The  matters  are  covered  in  the  House  hearing. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  157 

Passing  on  over  pages  73  and  74.  Mr.  Chairman,  there  seems  to  be 
no  item  to  which  we  would  ask  unusual  attention.  We  are  proceeding 
now  with  the  understanding  that  all  our  arguments  submitted  to  the 
House  committee  are  in  evidence. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes. 

Medical  Charities, 
children's  hospital. 

CARE    OF   INDIGENT   PATIENTS. 

Mr.  Wilson.  There  is  nothing  further  until  we  come  down  on 
page  75  to  line  10,  where  the  amount  for  the  Children's  Hospital  is 
estimated  at  $16,000,  an  mcrease  of  S2,000.  The  hospital  has  been 
earning  for  some  years  past  just  about  that  amount.  Last  year  it 
earned  $15,700,  and  this  year  it  has  earned,  in  the  10  months  elapsed 
to  May  31,  $14,400,  which  would  be  a  httle  in  excess  of  $16,000  for 
this  year.  The  rate  paid  is  onh"  65  cents  a  day,  which  is  a  very  low 
rate,  and  we  think  that  institution  is  rendering  a  large  service  for  the 
money  that  the  Government  appropriates. 

EMERGENCY    HOSPITAL. 

INDIGENT   PATIENTS. 

Passing  over  to  line  17,  on  page  75,  the  amount  for  the  Emergency 
Hospital  is  estunated  at  $19,000.  Tlie  House  recommends  $17,000. 
I  wanted  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  with  the  opening  of  their 
new  and  large  hospital  the  amount  of  work  has  very  greatly  increased. 

Senator  Dillingham.  The  number  of  patients  has  increased? 

Mr.  Wilson.  The  number  of  patients  has  very  greatly  increased, 
and  in  spite  of  the  most  careful  scrutiny  the  bills  have  gone  up,  and 
the  amount  required  next  j^ear,  instead  of  being  $19,000,  will  appar- 
ently be  in  the  neighborhood  of  $25^000  or  $26,000.  My  explana- 
tion of  that  is  this,  that  m  the  old  Washmgton  Asylum  Hospital  we 
have  been  obliged  to  care  for  everybody  that  could  not  be  cared  for 
otherwise.  The  Emergency  Hospital  in  its  old  Ci[uarters  received  so 
many  people  from  the  heart  of  the  city  that  it  did  not  have  room  to 
keep  patients  as  long  as  they  should  have  been  kept,  and  they  were 
crowded  out  and  sent  away  the  first,  second,  and  third  days  m  order 
to  provide  beds  which  they  must  have  for  urgent  cases.  As  it  is 
now,  they  are  able  to  keep  a  little  longer  those  who  were  formerly 
crowded  out,  so  that  the  cost  has  been  increased. 

The  board  has  considered  this  matter  very  carefully  and  we  feel 
that  with  the  conditions  as  they  are  at  the  W^ashington  Asylum 
Hospital,  not  only  the  physical  dilapidation  but  the  overcrowding, 
it  can  not  now  be  helped.  The  board  considered  it  could  not  go  up 
to  the  Emergency  Ht)spital  and  haul  a  man  away  with  a  broken  leg 
down  to  that  place  unless  they  were  forced  to  do  so.  Some  people 
are  gettmg  better  care  than  was  given  them  before,  and  it  is  costing 
more. 

Senator  Dillingham.  And  in  addition  to  that,  they  have  a  larger 
capacity  ? 


158  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Mr.  Wilson.  That  is  what  has  caused  it.  It  was  the  hmited 
capacity  before  which  crowded  those  people  out  when  they  ought 
not  to  hare  gone.  Many  of  them  Liy  do^iistairs  m  a  Uttle  receiving 
room  until  we  could  send  for  them  with  the  ambulance.  Wliat  I 
wanted  to  emphasize  is  that  it  is  not  because  we  have  not  scrutinized 
it  very  carefully.  The  bills  grew  so  much  larger  that  it  seemed  to 
demand  our  careful  examination.  I  thmk  we  were  all  disappointed 
that  we  could  not  reduce  those  biUs.  We  were  very  careful  about  it. 
So  that  there  will  be  a  very  large  deficiency  there  even  if  the  estimate 
is  appropriated. 

At  the  Casualty  Hospital,  the  estimate  in  line  21,  page  75,  was 
813.500.  That  estimate,  we  think,  will  just  about  meet  the  bills 
that  will  be  incurred. 

GEORGE      WASHINGTON      UNIVERSITY      HOSPITAL      AND      GEORGETOWN- 
UNIVERSITY    HOSPITAL. 

rXDIGENT    PATIEXTS. 

Now  we  pass  over  rather  rapidly  to  the  Georgetovni  Univei-sity 
Hospital  and  the  George  Washington  University  Hospital,  lines  3 
and  6  on  page  76.  The  estimate  for  Georgetown  University  Hospital 
was  87,000.  Georgetown  University  Hospital  earns  now,  although 
it  is  not  paid,  more  than  87,000.  It  earned  last  year  88,070  for 
indigent  patients  belonging  to  the  District,  but  it  is  not  a  leo;al 
obligation,  because  in  no  case  are  we  obligated  beyond  the  appropria- 
tion. They  actually  took  care  of  indigent  patients  up  to  that 
amomit.  The  amount  of  the  estimate  for  George  WasMngton  Uni- 
versity Hospital  was  86,000,  which  is  also  to  meet  the  increased  biUs 
we  were  unable  to  pav  a  year  ago. 

Dr.  KoBER.  I  should  like  to  add  to  what  Mr.  Wilson  has  said  in 
regard  to  the  Children's  Hospital,  the  Georgetown  University  Hos- 
pital and  the  George  Washmgton  University  Hospital,  and  so  on. 
that  these  hospitals  are  caring  for  a  great  number  of  patients  that 
are  not  being  paid  for.  The  Children's  Hospital,  for  instance,  had 
to  contract  an  indebtedness  of  82,000  last  year  to  maintain  patients 
that  were  admitted  by  order  of  the  Board  of  Charities,  and  could  not 
be  paid  for  because  of  the  limited  appropriation.  It  is  the  same  way 
with  Georgetown  University  Hospital  and  George  Washington  Uni- 
versity Hospital.  It  seems  only  fair  that  these  hospitals,  as  long  as 
we  have  no  municipal  hospital  where  these  patients  can  be  properly 
taken  care  of,  should  be  paid  for  every  patient  admitted  upon  order 
of  the  Board  of  Charities.  There  is  no  legal  obligation,  but  there  is  a 
strong  moral  obhgation,  wliich  is  carried  out  in  regard  to  the  Emer- 
genc}'  Hospitals,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  this  should  be  done  ^nth  all 
institutions  that  are  doing  their  part  to  maintain  the  patients  ad- 
mitted by  order  of  the  Board  of  Charities. 

I  know  that  the  financial  condition  is  very  acute  in  the  Childrens' 
Hospital.  They  have  done  their  best,  and  they  arenot  being  paid  for 
what  they  actually  do.  At  the  rate  of  65  cents  a  day  for  a  patient, 
they  certainly  ought  to  be  paid  for  every  patient  that  is  taken  care 
of,  or  at  least  for  every  patient  that  is  admitted  by  order  of  the  Board 
of  Charities. 

Senator  Dillingham.  How  much  are  the}^  being  paid  a  day  ? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  159 

Dr.  KoBER.  Sixty-five  cents  at  tlie  Cliildrens  Hospital,  George- 
town University  Hospital  and  George  Washington  University  Hospi- 
tals are  doing  the  work  at  a  dollar  a  day  per  patient,  which  is  less 
than  the  Government  could  care  for  them.  They  certainly  ought  to 
be  paid  for  every  patient  that  is  admitted  on  the  order  of  the  Board 
of  Charities,  because  the  Board  of  Charities  would  not  send  those 
patients  there  if  we  had  a  municipal  hospital  to  provide  for  them. 
We  sincerely  hope  that  the  estimates  for  these  hospitals  submitted  by 
the  Board  of  Charities  may  be  approved  in  full. 

Senator  Dillingham.  How  is  it  at  the  Emergency  Hospital? 

Dr.  KoBER.  At  the  Emergency  Hospital  they  are  all  being  cared  for 
at  the  rate  of  $1.20  a  day.  Of  course  the  Emergency's  cases  are  not 
admitted  on  order,  but  the  board  makes  an  investigation  of  the  facts, 
to  determine  wdiether  the  patient  should  pay  his  own  way  or  be  paid 
for  as  a  public  charge. 

TUBERCULOSIS    HOSPITAL. 

ASSISTANT    RESIDENT   PHYSICIAN. 

Mr.  Wilson.  Mr.  Chairman,  with  respect  to  the  Tuberculosis  Hos- 
pital, in  the  margin  on  page  76  there  is  a  provision  for  an  assistant 
resident  physician  at  $300.  We  have  a  resident  physician  at  $600. 
That  institution  has  grown  until  its  population  is  140,  whereas  it 
was  only  100  two  years  ago. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  many  inmates  are  there  now"  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  One  hundred  and  forty,  speaking  in  round  numbers. 
There  is  but  one  person  there  qualified  as  a  physician,  the  resident, 
at  S600.  Of  course  the  superintendent  is  a  c^ualified  physician  and 
a  specialist,  indeed:  but  between  the  superintendent  who  has  large 
executive  duties,  and  the  resident,  they  must  now  cover  24  hours  a 
day.  Even  if  they  had  nothing  but  medical  work  to  do,  still  wdien 
the  resident  was  gone  the  superintendent  would  have  to  try  to  get 
somebody  to  come  there  and  take  his  place,  as  he  does  now,  and  that 
sort  of  thing.  We  can  get  a  young  graduate  man  for  his  board  and 
$25  a  month.     The  institution  has  grown  so 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  many  physicians  have  you 
there,  includmg  the  superintendent  who  is  a  physician  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Just  two  of  the  regular  paid  staff.  We  have  the 
regular  visiting  staff  who  go  there  every  day  to  see  patients,  but  we 
want  a  resident  in  the  institution. 

Senator  Dillingham.  How  do  you  get  a  roentgenologist  at  $300? 
He  can  not  give  his  whole  time  for  that. 

Mr.  Wilson.  No;  only  a  small  part  of  his  time. 

PER   CAPITA    COST   FOR    PATIENTS. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Are  there  any  pay  patients  in  this 
institution? 

Mr.  Wilson.  None. 

S(^nator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  is  the  total  cost  of  running  this 
institution  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Mr.  Chairman,  you  are  probabl}-  primarily  interested 
in  the  cost  per  capita. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes:  per  capita. 


160  DISTRICT    OF    COI-UMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Mr.  Wilson.  For  the  year  1913  it  cost  us  $1.20  a  day.  For  the 
current  year  it  is  going  to  be  a  httle  less  on  account  of  the  increased 
number  of  patients. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  SI. 20  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  SI. 20  a  day. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  That  is  not  an  excessive  cost  con- 
sidering the  average  cost  of  these  tuberculosis  hospitals,  I  think. 

Mr.  Wilson.  We  think  not. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Some  of  them  cost  more  and  some 
of  them  cost  less.  We  have  one  in  Maryland  that  costs  less  than  that, 
but  I  think  we  have  advantages  that  you  have  not.  We  are  in  the 
country  and  buy  all  of  our  supplies  that  can  be  gotten  there  at  first 
cost.     It  costs  us  about  $1. 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  But  a  great  many  of  them  cost  as 
high  as  SIO  a  week,  throughout  the  country. 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes.  You  probably  realize  that  the  great  ma- 
jority  

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  We  have  a  much  larger  number  of 
patients,  also.  ' 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes,  and  I  understand  that  a  goodly  number  of  your 
patients  are  able  to  be  about,  and  attend  to  their  own  needs,  and 
come  to  the  table. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes. 

ROENTGENOLOGIST. 

Mr.  Wilson.  A  great  majority  of  ours  are  far  advanced.  That 
makes  a  gi-eat  difference  in  the  cost  of  care  and  nursing.  Dr.  Kober 
can  explain  how  we  are  able  to  get  the  services  of  a  roentgenologist 
for  $300. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  understand  about  that. 

Mr.  Wilson.  We  have  an  X-ray  machine  now^,  which  is  a  new 
agent  for  diagnostic  purposes. 

wSenator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Then  I  understand  you  to  say  your 
per  capita  is  about  SI. 20  a  day? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes.  That  includes,  of  course,  everything;  the 
salaries  as  well  as  the  maintenance. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Oh,  of  course;  for  running  the 
hospital,  it  costs  about  SI. 20  per  capita. 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes;  but  the  current  year  it  will  cost  less,  because 
our  unit  is  getting  a  little  larger. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes. 

Mr.  Wilson.  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  if  I  may  I  will  revert  for  a 
moment  to  an  item  that  is  not  covered  in  these  estimates,  but  the  new 
law  which  was  referred  to  by  Col.  Kutz  applies  there.  I  refer  to  the 
item  of  the  pathologist  at  8300.  That  man  is  Dr.  Kinyon,  who  is 
bacteriologist  in  the  health  office,  and  we  could  not  employ  him  next 
year  unless  the  language  in  this  bill  would  specifically  authorize  it. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  He  can  not  receive  two  salaries? 

Mr.  Wilson.  He  can  not  receive  two  in  excess  of  $2,000.  If  it  is 
agreeable,  Mr.  Chairman,  we  will  ask  the  clerk  of  the  committee  to 
make  a  note  of  that.  He  will  know  better  than  I  would  how  to 
correct  it. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  161 

Sou-alor  Smith  of  M-aryl^ind.  TIkmi,  I  uiuiorstiiiul  tlio  two  ])oiiits 
that  you  urge  -are  the  authority  to  employ  an  additional  ]>hyriician 
and  also  an  amendment  so  that  you  can  continue  to  employ  this 
pathologist  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes,  Mr.  Chairman;  and  the  roentgenologist,  at  1300. 
The  House  has  provided  for  the  apparatus,  but  not  for  the  o])erator. 
It  is  in  the  estimate  at  $300. 

MAINTENANCE. 

Tliere  is  nothing,  I  think,  now,  until  we  come  to  the  item  of  main- 
tenance, line  22,  page  76,  which  is  $35,000,  as  recommended  hy  the 
House.  Our  estimate  was  $37,000.  We  feel  quite  confident  that 
with  the  mcreasing  population  $37,000  is  a  conservative  estimate. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  They  gave  you  an  increase  of  $3,000 
over  last  year  'i 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes;  but  that  is  more  than  offset  by  the  increase  in 
population. 

PURCHASE    OF   X-RAY   MACHINE. 

In  line  25  there  is  an  item  of  $2,360  for  the  purchase  of  an  X-ray 
machine  and  accessories.  The  House  recommended  $2,000.  I  would 
simply  like  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  $2,360  is  the  official 
estimate,  every  detail  of  which  was  given.  That  amount  was  the 
total  for  a  whole  list  of  instruments,  and  if  we  do  not  get  the  full 
amount,  there  are  some  of  the  things  that  we  can  not  purchase. 
The  House  has  reduced  it  to  the  sum  of  $2,000.  It  is  detailed  at 
$2,360.  There  is  a  list  given  in  the  estimates  of  exactly  the  pieces  of 
apparatus  that  are  required  to  be  purchased  to  that  amount. 

Dr.  KoBER.  We  secured  estimates  for  this  apparatus,  to  show 
every  cent  in  the  amount  of  the  appropriation. 

Mr.  Wilson.  Some  of  the  ite;ris  are  as  small  as  $25.  The  list  is 
published  in  the  Book  of  Estimates  in  full  detail,  and  we  hope  that 
you  will  be  able  to  give  that  your  attention,  Mr.  Chairman. 

ERECTION    OF    BUILDINGS. 

Tliore  is  an  item  omitted  from  the  bill,  which  is  on  a  slip  pasted  in 
the  margin,  ''For  erection  of  buildings  to  afford  additional  accommo- 
dations for  incipient  cases,  $2,000."  That  means,  Mr.  Chairman,  that 
we  want  to  erect  shacks,  probably  of  metal.  Three  years  ago  we 
were  given  $2,000,  and  that  provided  accommodations  for  15  patients, 
and  they  have  been  occupied,  and  during  the  past  seven  or  eight 
months,  since  early  in  the  fall,  we  have  had  a  waiting  list,  and  it  is 
a  question  of  either  enlarging  the  main  building  or  buildhig  these 
shacks;  and  for  the  time  being  these  are  really  better  because  they 
enable  us  to  afford  more  privacy  to  the  more  hopeful  cases  that  are 
unwilling  to  go  into  the  wards  where  these  coughing,  far-advanced 
cases  are  lying. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  suppose  you  alwa^^s  have  a  waithig 
list,  do  you  not  ? 

Mr.  W^iLsoN.  No;  it  has  only  begun  this  last  fall. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  many  will  the  present  shacks 
accommodate  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Fifteen. 

45737—16 11 


162  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Soiiator  SiiiTii  of  Marylaiul.  And  tho  erection  of  tlus  building,  jou 
think,  will  enable  you  to  accommodate  about  15? 

Mr.  WiLsox.  Fifteen  more,  at  least. 

Senator  Smith  of  IMaryland.  How  many  have  you  on  the  waiting 
list  now  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  The  number  varies  from  day  to  day.  It  has  been 
up  as  high  as  nine,  and  then  it  comes  down  to  nearly  nothing. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Are  your  accommodations  usually 
filled  up  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  We  are  always  filled. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Always? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes,  always;  as  soon  as  a  patient  leaves  or  a  death 
©ccui-s  the  hospital  notifies  us,  and  as  soon  as  they  can  disinfect  the 
bedding  we  get  ready  for  another  patient. 

municipal  hospital. 

Mr.  Chairman,  at  that  point  in  the  bill  occurs  the  estimate  noted 
in  the  margin  for  the  new  hospital.  I  take  it  it  is  not  necessary  to 
mention  that  further.  You  all  knoAv  how  earnestly  we  feel  about 
that,  and  how  urgent  the  need  is. 

CHILD-CAR ING    INSTITUTIONS. 

BOARD    OF   children's    GUARDIANS. 

Going  now  to  the  Board  of  Children's  Guardians,  there  are  several 
salary  increases  there,  or  rather  increases  in  force,  a  little  of  which 
the  House  allowed,  and  we  recommend  it  all.  There  was  in  the  bill 
there,  Mr.  Commissioner,  an  item  about  the  appointment  of  the  Board 
of  Children's  Guardians. 

Commissioner  Newman,  Tliat  is  thoroughly  covered  in  the  House 
hearings. 

Mr.  Wilson.  Tlien  we  will  pass  on,  Mr.  Chairman.  We  might 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  line  21,  page  77,  the  word  "  hereafter, ' ' 
which  we  proposed,  went  out  on  a  pohit  of  order.  We  felt  that  that 
would  be  a  convenience  for  you  in  getting  all  this  out  of  the  bill 
hereafter,  if  you  would  put  that  in.  Now  we  pass  over  to  page  78, 
going  along  pretty  rapidly.  Tlie  item  for  mahitenance  there  is  not 
quite  up  to  the  estimate,  Imt  it  approaches  it.  I  will  not  take  your 
time  on  that. 

INDUSTRIAL    HOME    SCHOOL    FOR    COLORED    CHILDREN. 

Under  the  Industrial  Home  School  for  Colored  Children  on  page 
78  there  are  a  number  of  items  of  salaries  which  are  worthy,  and 
which  we  urge  upon  you,  and  on  which  you  have  the  House  hearings. 

KRECTION    OP    RARN.  ^ 

Tliere  is  an  item  for  a  barn,  at  $1,500,  which  is  omitted,  and  that 
barn  is  verv  much  needed,  and  we  would  be  glad  if  you  could  consider 
that. 


DISTKICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL^  1917.  163 

MAINTENANCE. 

The  estimate  for  the  item  of  maintenance,  line  16,  page  78,  was 
S11.500.  Tlie  House  has  hicreased  it  from  $9,000  to  S10,000.  The 
cmTent  expenclitm-e  is  practically  the  amount  of  the  estimate. 

Senator  S^niith  of  Maryland.  How  many  people  haye  you  in  that 
institution"^ 

Mr.  Wilson.  Ahout  94.  It  is  filled  all  the  time.  We  luiye  many 
applicants  we  can  not  accept  hecause  the  place  is  filled. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  That  is  a  little  oyer  $100  a  year  apiece? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes.  Last  year  we  used,  with  the  deficiency,  just 
about  SI  1,000,  and  this  year  a  deficiency  has  been  incurred,  so  that 
it  will  run  within  $100  of  $11 ,500,  which  is  the  estimate.  The  amount 
expended  to  date  this  year  is  a  httle  over  $11,000;  so  that  we  would 
iurge  the  estimate  there,  if  we  may. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  receive  any  reyenue  from  the 
farm  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes.  Most  of  the  products  are  consumed,  of  course. 
The  only  considerable  revenue  is  from  the  eggs.  They  have  gone 
into  chicken  raismg,  and  of  course  produce  eggs  in  considerable  quan- 
tities and  sell  those. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Then  it  cost  $100  a  year  or  more  per 
capita,  plus  the  revenue  that  is  received  from  the  farm,  to  support 
these  children  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes.  Of  course  that  includes  the  clothing  as  well  as 
the  subsistence. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes. 

Mr.  Wilson.  The  entire  expense  and  school  expenses.  We  have 
the  training  school  there,  and  that  mcludes  material  for  that. 

INDUSTRIAL    HOME    SCHOOL. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  going  through  the  Industrial  Home  School, 
begmning  at  the  bottom  of  page  78,  there  is  the  same  remark  to  be 
made,  that  we  urge  the  various  items,  and  you  have  the  House  hear- 
ings on  them. 

ERECTION    OF  TEMPORARY  COTTAGE. 

Tlie  little  slip  pasted  on  page  79,  under  the  heading  "Industrial 
Home  School,"  refers  to  the  white  school.  That  item,  which  was 
omitted  by  the  House,  is  "For  erection  of  temporary  cottage,  $5,000." 
That  is  a  very  old,  overcrowded  institution,  and  it  has  not  been  rec- 
ommended that  new  buildings  be  erected  because  a  large  part  of  the 
land  lies  within  the  limits  of  the  Observatory  Circle,  and  there  has 
been  an  understanding  between  the  .N  avy  Department  and  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  District  that  the  land  should  be  acquired  by  the 
Navy  Department  and  the  school  should  go  out  into  the  country. 
There  is  only  a  limited  area  now,  about  14  acres,  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  which  is,  of  course,  occupied  by  the  buildings,  and  it  is  recom- 
mended that  this  $5,000  be  appropriated  for  a  temporary  cottage 
which  would  accommodate  about  50  additional  children. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  say  this  institution  is  likely  to 
be  moved? 


164  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Mr.  Wilson,  it  is  likely  to  bo  mo~\ed.  and  it  certainly  ought  to  be 
moved. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Then  do  you  think  it  is  wise  to 
expend  85,000  in  the  erection  of  a  cottage  for  an  institution  that  is 
soon  to  be  moved  ? 

Mr.  WiLSOX.  No;  that  would  not  be  lost.  That  $5,000  would 
provide  a  portable  building  of  a  temporary  character,  one  that 
could  be  taken  up  and  moved;  a  cheap,  portable  building. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  think  we  can  go  on  rapidly  for  several  pages  and 
not  worry  you  with  any  details.  There  are  several  items  on  page  80 
that  the  House  has  put  in,  and  there  is  an  item  for  a  new  municipal 
lodging  house  which  has  been  omitted.  Mr.  Commissioner,  would 
you  like  to  address  the  committee  on  that  item  of  .$40,000  for  a  new 
municipal  lodging  house  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  I  think  that  is  covered  pretty  well  in  the 
House  hearings. 

Mr.  Wilson.  It  is  a  large  and  important  item,  but  I  think  it  is 
well  covered  in  the  hearings  before  the  House  committee. 

WORKHOUSE. 

I  think  there  is  nothing  else  on  page  80  that  we  need  take  your 
tune  with,  nor  on  page  81,  until  we  come  to  near  the  bottom  of  the 
page,  under  the  appropriation  for  the  workhouse,  where  we  urge 
the  estimates  there  for  those  salaries  that  have  been  considered  in 
detail  and  are  covered  in  the  House  hearings,  in  each  instance. 

DAIRY   AXD   FORAGE   BUILDING. 

On  page  83,  if  I  may  go  over  rapidly  to  that,  there  is  an  iteni  which 
is  omitted  in  the  estimates  under  the  workhouse,  "For  dairy  and 
forage  building,  S4,000."  That  is  for  the  workhouse  at  Occoquan. 
We  are  reclaiming  the  land  rapidly  and  increasing  our  dairy  herd. 
That  building  it  is  estimated  will  accommodate  40  dairy  cattle,  and 
there  will  be  four  silos  and  a  forage  building.  Of  course,  the  pris- 
oners at  Occoquan  do  all  the  work.  This  would  be  simply  to  purchase 
the  materijd,  and  for  S4,000  we  would  get  accommodations  for  40 
cattle  and  erect  four  silos  and  a  general  storage  plant  for  forage. 

REFORMATROY — MAINTENANCE    OF. 

Near  the  bottom  of  page  83,  line  13,  for  maintenance,  on  that  item 
the  Board  of  Charities  had  a  conference  with  the  chau-man  of  the 
Board  of  Commissioners,  and  we  ask  that  this  language  behiserted; 
"For  maintenance,  including  S2,000  additional  compensation  to  the 
superintendent  of  workhouse  as  superintendent  of  the  reformatory." 

SUPERINTENDENCE. 

In  developing  the  institution  it  is  proposed  by  the  commiss-ioners, 
for  the  time  behig  at  least,  to  have  the  same  superintendent  take 
charge  of  both  institutions.  He  is  getting  now  S2,500  a  year,  and 
they  propose  an  additional  compensation  of  S2,000  annuallv. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Making  $4,500^ 

yh.  Wilson.  84,500.  Mr.  Commissioner  Newman,  you  would 
probably  hke  to  speak  to  the  committee  in  regard  to  makhig  this 
man  superintendent  of  the  two  iiistitutions  at  Occoquan. 


DISTKICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  165 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes;  I  think  that  is  a  very  essential 
matter,  Senators.  The  workhouse  is  very  thoroughly  established, 
and  in  very  successful  operation.  It  has  been  a  long  and  a  hard  job, 
but  it  is  now  accomplished;  it  has  passed  the  experimental  stage, 
and  is  in  operation.  It,  of  course,  is  increasing  both  in  numbers  and 
its  activities  all  the  time,  getting  more  land  ur.der  ( idtivation  all  the 
the  time. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  many  acres  of  land  have  you? 

Commissioner  Neavmax.  One  thousand  one  hundred. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  many  people  have  you  there  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Seven  hundred;  600  men  and  100  women, 
on  the  average. 

wSenator  Smith  of  ^laryland.  Does  this  superintendent  live  there? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  He  has  his  house  there  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  His  house  and  subsistence,  yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maiyland.  Furnished  to  him  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  The  house  is  furnished;  yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  about  his  subsistence  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  That  is  also  furnished. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  For  himself  and  family  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  For  himself  and  family;  yes,  sir.  As  you 
know,  we  have  had  two  appropriations  of  -SIS, 000  each  for  getting 
the  ground  ready  and  getting  plans  ready  for  the  reformatory  which 
will  take  the  lono;-tcrm  or  most  of  the  long-term  prisoners  from  the 
District,  men  who  are  now  sent  to  Atlanta  and  Leavenworth  and 
various  other  State  penitentiaries  and  reformatories  and  paid  for  on 
the  per  diem  basis,  and  thus  far  the  superintendent  of  the  work  house 
has  been  supervising  the  beginning  the  establishment  of  the  reforma- 
tory. We  purchased  1 ,500  acres,  in  addition  to  the  1 ,100  for  the  work- 
house, for  the  reformatory — about  1,400 — so  that  we  have  two  tracts 
which  adjoin  each  other  and  are  practically  one  tract  now,  about 
2,520  acres.  We  will  have  probably  500  or  600  inmates  in  the  other 
institution. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  That  will  be  about  1,200  all  told  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  About  1,200  or  1,400,  all  told,  on  the 
average. 

COST   OP   MAINTAINING   WORKHOUSE. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  much  money  has  it  cost  to  sup- 
port this  workhouse  institution  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  How  much  does  it  cost  ? 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  much  has  it  cost? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Annually  ? 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Annually? 

Mr.  Wilson.  In  round  numbers,  ,$150,000. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  has  cost  $150,000  to  support  it. 
Are  there  no  revenues  from  it  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  They  are  just  beginning.  Last  year  there  was  a 
revenue  of  about  $30,000  from  it  from  the  brick  and  the  stone.  Most 
of  the  labor  so  far  has  gone  into  the  development  of  the  plant.  We 
bought  wild  land  and  are  reclaiming  it,  and  are  also  building  the  build- 
ings. Every  piece  of  work  has  been  done  by  the  inmates.  We  are 
beginning  to  receive  a  revenue,  and  last  year  we  had  $30,000.     Most 


166  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

of  the  common  brick  that  went  into  the  Central  High  School  were 
made  there. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  has  cost  you  §120,000  to  support 
that  histitution;  $150,000  and  the  reyenues  also? 

Ml*.  Wilson.  No;  the  reyenues  are  not  used.  Tliey  are  turned 
into  the  Treasury. 

Commissioner  Newman.  The  reyenues  are  not  used. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  cultiyate  the  land  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  not  use  those  products? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes;  we  consume  those. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  other  reyenues  are  there  ? 

Ml*.  Wilson.  We  make  brick. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Nearly  all  the  brick  that  went  mto  the 
Central  High  School  were  made  there. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marjdand.  Do  you  giye  yourselyes  no  credit  for 
that  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  We  give  ourselyes  a  book  credit,  just  on 
paper.  Of  course,  that  money  has  to  go  mto  the  Treasury  to  the 
credit  of  the  District  and  the  United  States.  We  can  not  use  it  or 
reexpend  it  for  the  mstitution. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Tlien  I  understand  you  are  spending 
about  §150,000  a  year,  and  that  $150,000  a  year  does  not  receiye  any 
credit  for  the  products  of  the  labor  that  you  haye  there  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  No,  sir. 

;Mi'.  Wilson.  None  at  all. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Can  you  tell  me  what  that  would  be 
worth — the  bricks  that  haye  been  used  for  school  buildings,  and 
things  of  that  kind  ? 

Commissioner  >  ewman.  Last  year  it  was  about  $30,000. 

Senator  Smith  of  Mar^'land.  About  $30,000.  That  would  leaye, 
then,  a  net  appropriation  of  about  $120,000. 

Commissioner  In  ewman.  Yes.  You  understand,  Senator,  that  with 
that  kind  of  an  institution— that  is,  what  is  known  as  the  open  treat- 
ment of  prisoners — no  one  who  has  been  workin.g  in  that  field  and 
endeayoring  to  deyelop  the  theory  and  principle  of  treating  prisoners 
in  that  manner  pretends  that  it  is  the  most  economical  way  to  do  it. 
It  would  ])('  nuich  cheaper  to  haye  one  building  fuU  of  cells,  and 
chuck  them  in  those  cells  and  keep  them  there. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  But  it  does  seem  to  me — you  wiU 
pardon  me — that  $200  a  year  each  to  support  those  people  is  a  pretty 
large  sum  of  money.  Compared  with  the  cost  in  the  yarious  houses 
of  correction  in  the  States,  it  is  far  in  excess  of  any  of  them,  I  think. 
I  do  not  know  what  your  experiments  amount  to,  whether  the  im- 
proyements  of  the  land  and  things  of  that  kind  amount  to  much 
or  not. 

Commissioner  ^  ewman.  They  unquestionably  amount  to  a  great 
deal.  Has  there  been  an  estimate,  Mr.  Wilson,  of  the  yalue''of  the 
labor  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes.     A  year  ago  there  was  an  estimate  made. 

Commissioner  Newtvian.  ^Yhat  is  that.  Of  course  those  figures  are 
original  cost.     There  is  a  lot  of  original  cost  there. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  mean  of  that  $150,000  a  year? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  167 

Commissioner  Newmax.  Of  the  $150,000  a  3'ear.  There  are  many 
capital  eliarojes  in  that  ex])enditiire. 

Senator  Dillingham.  That  enters  into  the  development  of  the 
property  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  long  have  you  heeu  getting 
SI 50.000  a  year? 

Commissioner  Newman.  How  long  is  that  ^ 

Mr.  Wilson.  Mr.  Chairman,  there  has  not  been  any  fixed  time  or 
fixed  amount.  As  the  commissioner  has  explained,  this  institution 
is  just  being  built  up.  We  began  about  five  years  ago,  and  there 
is  no  fLxed  per  capita  per  annum  yet.  There  is  a  per  capita,  but  it  is 
rapidly  changing.  In  the  report  for  the  year  previous  to  this  they 
estimated  the  value  of  the  buildings  and  the  machinery. 

Commissioner  Newman.  And  the  equipment. 

Mr.  Wilson.  .Ind  unprovement  in  the  real  estate.  The  thing  has 
not  been  self-supporting.  I  do  not  clauu  that.  It  is  approaching 
self-support  all  the  time. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Wliat  is  that  1,100  acres  of  land,  and 
the  buildings  and  machinery  and  all  that,  worth  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  The  estimate  runs  up  to  something  like  a  half  million 
dollars.  I  can  give  you  a  report  prepared  a  year  ago.  This  is  not  in 
the  current  report. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Has  that  cost  been  paid  out  of  the 
appropriation  of  about  S  150,000  a  year,  or  has  there  been  a  separate 
appropriation  for  that  ? 

Mr.  Wilson.  There  was  an  original  appropriation  for  land,  and 
then  there  was  a  separate  appropriation  for  certain  kinds  of  machin- 
ery, and  so  on. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Then  I  understand  the  land,  machin- 
ery, and  buildings  have  been  paid  for  separately  by  appropriations  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  No;  thev  have  aU  bee^  paid  for  out  of 
that  SI 50,000  a  year. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Not  the  land,  however. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Not  the  land.  The  maintenance  appro- 
priation is  S70,000  a  year,  exclusive  of  salaries. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  balance  has  been  spent  for  the 
purpose  of  buying  machinery  and  unprovements  generally  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  What  in  an  industrial  corporation  would 
be  capital  charges;  permanent  investment;  S70,000  is  correct. 

Mr.  Wilson.  $70,000;  and  then  the  fuel  and  salaries.  It  runs  up 
to  about  S150,000  a  year  for  maintenance  proper. 

Commissioner  Newman.  For  maintenance^ 

Mr.  Wilson.  Yes.     Those  three  together  approximate  S1")0,000. 

Commissioner  Newman.  That  S70,000  does  not  include  salaries  or 
fuel. 

Mr.  Wilson.  I  would  say,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  that  S'iOO  per 
capita  per  year,  taken  for  institutions  generally,  would  not  be  con- 
sidered necessarily  exorbitant,  if  they  are  doing  the  right  thing.  It 
de])ends  a  great  deal  on  what  they  do  for  the  men  in  the  way  of 
educntion  and  training  — how  much  they  earn.  It  is  believed  by 
Mr.  E(1son  and  the  commissioners,  and  the  penal  commission,  of 
which  Judge  Stafford  is  a  meml)er,  that  hi  the  course  of  the  next  10 


168  DISTEICT    OF    COLU:\rBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

years  or  so  this  institution  will  earn  very  nearly  all  the  appropria- 
tions. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^lar^'land.  Do  they  make  any  money  for  them- 
selves hi  that  institution  \ 

Commissioner  Newman.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  They  make  nothino;  for  their  families? 

Mr.  WiLSOx.  Nothing:  no,  sir.  We  have  felt  diffident  about  doing 
that.  It  would  be  simply  an  appropriation  from  the  Government,  if 
the}^  have  not  first  earned  then-  own  keep.  You  understand  with 
reference  to  this  item  coming  in  here  about  the  reformatory — I  might 
as  well  mention  it  now — that  it  is  proposed  to  develop  that  institu- 
tion to  care  for  the  long-term-  prisoners.  That  will  be  a  much 
easier  thing  from  the  financial  point  of  view;  possibly  more  difficult 
from  the  disciplinary  point  of  view.  When  we  have  men  of  one,  two,  or 
tln-ee  years'  sentence,  most  of  them  reasonably  able,  physical  men,  and 
intelligent,  they  can  work  to  good  advantage;  but  here  at  the  work- 
house we  have  the  flotsam  and  jetsam,  not  200  of  whom  begin  to 
be  able-bodied  men.  They  are.  many  of  them,  physically  and  mentally 
incompetent.  Tlie  superintendent  has  urged  over'  and  over  again 
that  if  we  could  take  away  from  him  200  of  those  men,  and  leave  him 
with  only  400,  taking  those  200  to  a  poorhouse,  there  would  be  a 
remarkable  difference  in  the  showing;  but  the  trouble  is  that  those 
men  are  not  men  who  will  get  along  in  a  poorhouse,  because  they  are 
more  or  less  vicious  in  their  habits — they  drink,  and  so  on — and  they 
have  to  stay  in  that  institution  for  the  discipline. 

Commissioner  New  max.  You  asked  me  if  any  of  them  received 
any  compensation  for  the  work  that  they  did  there.  There  is  one 
class  that  receives  compensation;  that  is,  men  sent  there  for  failure 
to  support  their  families. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  In  many  of  the  institutions  the  pris- 
oners work,  and  a  part  of  what  they  earn  goes  to  their  families,  or 
goes  to  them  when  the}'  come  out  of  the  institution. 

Commissioner  Newmax.  We  have  not  any  general  system  of  that 
kind.  They  all  work,  but  there  is  no  general  system  of  compensation 
for  them  and  their  families.  A  man  sentenced  there  for  failing  to 
support  his  family  is  required,  under  the  nonsupport  law,  to  pay  50 
cents  a  day  to  his  family,  for  which  a  special  appropriation  is  made. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Does  any  of  that  come  out  of  this 
appropriation  ? 

Commissioner  Newmax.  No;  there  is  a  special  appropriation  for 
that. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marvland.  There  is  a  special  appropriation  for 
that? 

Commissioner  Newmax.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  must  say  that  1  feel  that  S200  a  year 
for  the  support  #f  each  of  those  people  in  an  institution  of  that  kind  is 
a  good  deal  of  money. 

Commissioner  Newm^vx.  Yes,  it  is  expensive;  ])Ut  we  behev-c  that 
we  get  results  which  justify  it  in  the  way  of  improvement  of  the  con- 
ditions— physical,  mental,  and  moral — on  the  men  as  the  result  of 
their  being  there.  It  is  much  more  expensive  than  the  ordinary 
metliod  of  the  treatment  of  prisoners,  having  them  all  together  in  one 
buikhng  under  lock  and  key,  where  one  man  can  sit  at  the  door  and 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  169 

watch  tlicm  all.  There  is  no  stockade  on  the  i)lace;  there  are  no 
bars  or  cells  or  anything  of  that  kind.     It  is  the  open  treatment. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  These  people,  I  assume,  mentally  arc 
about  equal  to  the  ordinary  class  of  people  of  that  kind,  are  they  not  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Of  that  kind;  yes,  sir;  ])ut  that  kind  is  the 
workhouse  class  that  you  get  in  the  county  jail  and  in  the  city  jail  in 
Baltimore  on  Saturday  nights,  where  you  get  those  who  commit 
misdemeanors,  drink  and  c^uarrel  and  tight;  the  vicious  class  of 
offenders. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maiyland.  You  have  long-term  people  here? 

Commissioner  Newtvian.  We  have  no  institution  for  long-term 
prisoners  at  all.  We  send  our  long-term  prisoners  to  Atlanta  and 
Leavenworth,  and  so  on. 

This  reformatory  for  which  we  have  purchased  the  tract  adjoining 
the  workhouse  tract,  for  which  we  have  had  two  appropriations  of 
SI 5.000  for  preliminary  work,  and  for  which  we  are  now  asking  for 
an  appropriation  for  construction  and  development,  that  institution 
will  take  the  long-term  prisoners,  and  it  is  for  the  head  of  the  two 
institutions,  the  superintendency  for  the  two  institutions,  that  we 
have  asked  for  this  $4,500  salary. 

Mr.  Wilson.  Mr.  Chairman,  on  page  83,  under  the  head  ''Reforma- 
tory," and  the  rest  of  page  83  and  pages  84  and  85  there  is  a  lot  of 
material  which  the  House  has  passed  in  response  to  the  estimates, 
and  unless  the  commissioner,  or  unless  the  committee  themselves 
desire,  we  would  just  like  to  leave  it  with  you  as  being  satisfactory. 
That  is  your  position,  is  it  not,  Mr.  Newman  ? 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes. 

Mr.  Wilson.  That  is  to  cover  this  new  institution,  the  reforma- 
tory. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Yes;  as  it  stands  here  it  is  satisfactory 
to  us. 

Mr.  Wilson.  That  would  complete  our  schedule,  Mr.  Chairman. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Of  course  if  you  desire  any  discussion 
from  the  commissioners  they  will  be  very  glad  to  take  it  up  with  you 
in  detail  on  any  of  the  points,  but  we  are  very  well  pleased  with  what 
the  House  has  done. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  There  is  no  necessity  for  going  any 
further,  then. 

Mr.  Wilson.  I  want  to  thank  you  for  the  patient  way  in  which 
you  have  heard  me  in  this  rather  rambling  statement.  I  am  sorry 
that  Dr.  Van  Schaick  has  not  been  able  to  break  in  on  this  occasion. 

Ml".  Van  Schaick.  I  have  nothing  further  to  add.  I  think  it  has 
been  well  said,  Mr.  (^hairman. 

(At  1  o'clock  p.  m.  the  committee  adjourned  until  to-morrow, 
Wednesday,  June  21,  1916,  at  10.30  o'clock  a.  m.) 


170  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

WEDNESDAY,  JUNE  21,   1916. 

United  States  Senate, 
subcomxmittee  of  the  committee  on  appropriations, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

The  subcommittee  met  at  10:30  o'clock  a.  m. 

Present:  Senators  Smith  of  Maryland  (chairman),  GalUnger,  Dil- 
lingham, and  Curtis. 

Ohver  P.  Newman,  president  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  the 
District  of  Columbia;  Lieut.  Col.  Charles  W.  Kutz,  Corps  of  Engineers, 
United  States  Army,  Engineer  Commissioner  of  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia; Henry  P.  Blair,  president  of  the  board  of  education;  Ernest  L. 
Thurston,  superintendent  of  schools;  and  Stephen  E.  Kramer,  assist- 
ant superintendent  of  schools,  appeared. 

The  Chairman  (Senator  Smith).  Gentlemen,  we  will  hear  what  ' 
you  may  have  to  say.     Without  wishing  to  hurry  you,  as  we  have  so 
much  ahead  of  us  and  so  short  a  time  in  which  to  accomplish  it  before 
the  fiscal  year  is  out,  we  will  ask  you  to  be  as  brief  as  you  can. 

STATEMENT  OF  HENEY  P.  BLAIR,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BOARD 
OF  EDUCATION. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  shall  be  very  glad  to  answer  any  questions,  and 
would  like  to  call  attention  to  the  estimates  that  we  have  submitted, 
and  which  were  the  result  of  careful  consideration,  but  which  in  a 
number  of  instances  have  been  omitted  by  the  House. 

Senator  Smith.  Mr.  Blair,  did  you  appear  before  the  House  Com- 
mittee ? 


Mr.  Blair.  We  appeared  before  the  House  committee,  and  in  large 
measure  set  out  what  w"e  probably  would  repeat  here.  We  want  to 
do  all  we  can,  of  course,  to  follow  the  suggestion  you  have  indicated 
and  conserve  the  time. 

ASSISTANT    SUPERINTENDENTS. 

In  the  first  paragraph,  under  the  head  of  '^ Officers" 

Senator  Dillingham.  What  page  is  that  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  Page  39,  sir — we  have  asked  in  our  estimate  for  an 
increase  of  a  thousand  dollars  in  the  salary  of  each  of  the  assistant 
superintendents.  The  system  is  growing,  and  has  grown  very  much. 
It  is  approaching  60,000  children  now,  and  the  burden  that  falls  of 
necessity  on  the  assistant  superintendents  is  constantly  increasing, 
and  the  salary  asked,  $4,000,  is  not  an  unusual  amount.  In  fact, 
it  is  an  economical  amount  in  connection  with  systems  of  that  size 
and  duties  of  that  character. 

CHIEF    CLERK. 

Under  the  same  paragraph  we  have  asked  for  a  chief  clerk,  as  we 
are  calling  him,  at  -SI, 800.  Tlie  entire  finance  and  accounting  of  the 
school  system  is  to-day  in  charge  of  a  clerk  who  has  made  himself 
extraordinarily  proficient.  We  arc  only  able  to  give  him  a  salary  of 
$1,000.     The  school  appropriation  that  he  is  responsible  for,  or  that  wo 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  171 

arc  rospousible  for,  primarily,  is  approximatoly  S3, 000, 000  annually; 
and  all  the  details  of  requisitions,  supplies,  disbursements,  salaries, 
and  substantially  both  the  equipment  and  financial  detail  work,  arc 
in  charge  of  this  clerk,  who  has  by  his  experience  rendered  himself 
particularl}'  efficient;  and  we  think  a  $1,800  salary  for  a  man  to 
care  for  those  details  is  not  an  unusal  amount.  We  arc  losing  men 
from  time  to  time  from  that  office  because  of  the  fact  that  the  salary- 
is  insufficient :  and  we  are  very  much  disturbed  for  fear  that  we  may 
lose  the  men  that  we  need  to  keep,  who  have  been  trained  there,  and 
who  understand  the  necessities  and  the  details. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Mr.  Blair,  my  attention  was  diverted  for  a 
moment.     Who  is  discharging  those  duties  now? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  have  a  SI, 000  clerk  who  continues  there.  He  is 
one  of  the  men  at  SI, 000. 

Senator  Gallixger.  And  vou  want  Mm  retamed  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  want  a  chief  clerk  at  SI, 800. 

Senator  Smith.  An  additional  clerk,  or  one  of  the  three  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  Xo:  an  additional  clerk,  in  addition  to  the  three.  We 
need  the  additional  clerk  very  much,  and  we  want  to  take  care  of  this 
man  so  that  we  ^vill  not  lose  him. 

Senator  Smith.  You  expect  to  keep  one  of  the  clerks  that  you  now 
have,  but  increase  his  salary  to  $1,800,  and  supply  his  place  \\Tith  some 
one  else  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  And  supply  his  place  with  an  additional  clerk.  The 
result  of  the  board's  estimate.  Senator,  would  be  to  give  us  one  more 
clerk  at  SI, 000,  and  give  us  another  salary  at  $1,800. 

ATTENDANCE    OFFICERS. 

Then  we  have  asked,  in  our  estimates  in  connection  with,  the  attend- 
ance officere,  that  we  might  put  them  in  the  classification  of  teachers, 
and  that  they  might  be  given  the  longevity  pay  which  attaches  to 
those  classifications.  We  also  ask  for  two  additional  attendance 
officers.  We  have  at  the  present  time,  to  care  for  the  entire  school 
system,  three  attendance  officers.  We  have  a  compulsory-education 
law  whicii  they,  are  obhged  to  enforce.  We  have  one  in  the  colored 
system,  \nth  from  18,000  to  20,000  children  in  the  colored  schools. 
We  have  one  attendance  officer  to  look  after  the  enforcement  of  the 
compulsory-educationlawin  that  system ;  andthen  we  have  two  for  the 
white  schools,  a  chief  and  an  assistant.  The  work  is  being  done  as 
well  as  we  can  do  it  under  those  circumstances;  but  we  feel  that  for 
the  cases  that  have  to  be  looked  after  we  should  have  the  board's  esti- 
mate of  five  attendance  officers  in  all,  with  the  longevity  provisions 
attaching  to  their  salaries.  We  educate  a  good  attendance  officer, 
and  we  can  give  one  of  them  S900  and  the  other  two  S600  each.  We 
get  them  well  educated  \\'ith  two,  three,  or  five  years  of  experience, 
and  then  some  one  else  gives  them  around  a  thousand  dollars,  and  we 
lose  them.     Then  we  have  the  same  work  to  start  out  over  again. 

PRINCIPALS    OF    HIGH    SCHOOLS. 

We  asked,  in  connection  \^-ith  the  principals  of  the  high  schools, 
outside  of  the  Central — which  I  ^\•ill  pass  for  the  moment — an  increase 
in  the  salaries  of  the  principals  in  the  high  schools  from  a  basic  $2,000 


172  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPKIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

to  a  basic  82,500,  with  the  usual  longevity  provision  of  8100  a  year  for 
five  years,  reaching  a  maximum  of  83,000. 

Senator  Smith.  I  see  that  you  estimated  for  eight,  and  the  House  ' 
gave  you  nine.     Tli;it  is  on  page  39,  line'  15. 

Mr.  Blaik.  Tlie  reason  for  that  is  just  what  I  iissigned  a  mmute 
ago.     We  formerly  hrnl  all  our  high-school  teachers  at  the  same  basic  i 
salary,   raid  we  felt   that  the  new  Centnil  High  School  was  large  j 
enough  and  of  sufficient  reciuirements  in  respect  to  disciplme  and 
management  so  that  we  shoidd  change  the  salary  of  that  prmcipal. 
Tlie  result  w;  s  that  we  left  the  other  eight  in  at  the  basic  $2,500,  t 
and  we  took  him  out  and  provided  for  him  at  a  basic  $3,000.     The  | 
House  hc^s  made  no  change  for  us  whatever,  and  put  it  back  at  the  \ 
old  provision.     There  is  no  increase  in  the  number  of  high  schools  , 
or  high-school  principals,  but  there  was  a  change  in  the  salary  of  one  j 
high-school  principal.  "  '' 

We  feel  very  strongly  that  that  is  one  of  the  weak  pomts  in  the 
salary'  system.  We  have  men  at  82,000  basic.  Tliey  can  only  go 
to  $2,500.  They  are  in  charge  of  our  high  schools  here.  Their  limit 
is  $2, .^00.  The  Ir.st  appomtment  that  we  mrde  was  of  one  of  the 
high-class  teachers  in  the  service  who  had  reached  82,200  in  salary. 
Under  the  construction  of  the  law,  that  teacher  will  sacrifice  $300 
m  salary  in  the  next  two  years  in  order  to  become  ]:)rmci])al  of  the  ii 
school  in  which  he  was  a  teacher.  That  is  by  reason  of  the  fact  that 
as  a  prmcipal  his  basic  is  $2,000,  whereas  as  a  teacher 

Senator  Cltitis.  Why  could  not  that  be  corrected  by  providing  that 
this  change  should  in  no  way  affect  the  salaries  of  employees  now  in 
the  service  accepting  such  assignments  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  If  that  provision  had  been  made  beforehand  it  might 
have  answered;  but  the  comptroller  has  held  that  the  high-school 
piincipals  are  officers  rather  than  teachers,  and  that  the  classification 
is  of  a  different  character,  and  that  they  must  go  in  at  the  basic  of  that 
classification.  That  has  happened  in  this  particular  instance  at  the 
Western  High  School  this  year.  The  new  principal  there  loses  $200 
this  year,  and  he  loses  $100  next  year,  over  his  former  salary. 

But  in  addition  to  that  inequality  which  has  worked  out  in  that 
case,  and  in  some  others  of  a  similar  kind,  we  feel  that  a  basic  $2,500 
for  our  high-school  principals  is  a  reasonable  and  a  fair  amount  to  ask, 
and  that  it  is  not  an  extravagant  amount  or  an  unusual  amount  as 
compared  with  other  systems  and  schools  of  the  same  size.  So  we 
asked  for  the  increase  of  the  basic  of  the  liigh-school  principals  to 
$2,500,  and  then  we  took  out  and  made  a  new  organization  for  the 
Central  High  School,  which,  as  of  course  you  gentlemen  know,  con- 
templates 2,500  pupils,  and  from  the  present  indications  of  its  enroll- 
ment it  will  have  in  its  first  year  over  2,000  pupils  enrolled  there. 

Of  the  other  high  schools,  the  largest  one  at  the  present  time  is  the 
present  Central,  which  has  some  1,-400  pupils  in  it,  and  we  also  have 
a  1 ,200  and  an  1,100  pupil  school.  We  have  asked  for  an  org:yiization 
of  the  new  Central  High  School  in  our  estimates  which  seems  to  us  a 
very  modest  request,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  pnncipal  there  will 
be  charged  with  the  responsibility  for  a  building  the  cost  of  which  i-^. 
about  a  million  and  a  quarter  dollars.  He  will  he  charged  with  the 
handling  of  ])upils  that  in  the  first  year  will  run  over  2,000  and  will 
reach  within  three  or  four  years,  we  are  quite  sure,  the  maximum  of 
accommodation  there.     The  enterhig  class  next  year  already  indi- 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917,  173 

cated  is  over  625,  and  it  will  be  larger  than  that,  unciuestioiiably,  by 
September. 

We  have  asked,  for  the  principal  of  that  school,  that  his  salary  may 
be  made  on  a  basis  of  S3, 000  and  an  annnal  increase  of  $500.  We 
have  also  asked  for  two  assistant  principals.  We  call  one  a  dean 
and  the  other  an  assistant  principal.  The  reason  for  that  is  that  we 
feel  that  there  shonld  be  two  persons  immediately  under  the  principal 
there  who  will  have  charge  of  that  high  school — one  to  have  charge  of 
the  boys  immediately  and  the  other  to  have  charge  of  the  girls.  The 
House  has  been  good  enough  to  give  us  a  dean  of  girls  at  $1,800. 
That  salary  and  that  position — I  do  not  think  there  would  be  any 
discussion  on  anj^one's  part  about  it — would  go  in  this  case  to  a 
teacher  who  has  practically  held  that  position  for  a  great  many  years, 
a  Mrs.  Horgelsberger,  a  splendid,  fine  woman,  who  is  in  the  highest 
group  of  teachers  in  our  system  and  is  now  drawing  $2,200.  She 
would  be  offered  that  appointment  as  dean.  It  would  involve  for 
her  a  sacrifice  in  the  first  year  of  S400  in  salary,  and  in  the  four  years 
that  it  would  take  her  to  get  back  to  her  present  $2,200  it  would 
involve  a  loss  of  $1,000  in  salary. 

We  feel  that  not  merely  the  dean  in  charge  of  the  girls,  but  also 
the  assistant  prmcipal  to  have  charge  of  the  boys,  are  both  of  them 
required  in  that  school.  The  principal  of  a  school  can  not  be 
charged  with  the  discipline  and  government  of  the  entire  school  if 
he  has  to  run  the  masculine  side  of  the  school  entirely  without  any 
help  or  assistance.  Mr.  Wilson  is  one  of  the  longest  in  service — I 
think  the  longest  in  service — of  any  of  our  prmcipals;  very  efficient, 
very  highly  thought  of,  and  very  highly  regarded. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  am  told  that  he  is  an  enormous  worker. 

Mr.  Blair.  He  takes  all  that  any  man  can  possibly  take,  and 
there  is  not  any  question  of  his  not  taking  all  he  can  in  the  new  school. 
No  man  has  ever  been  more  wrapped  up  in  his  school  and  in  its 
spirit  and  in  its  development  than  Mr.  Wilson. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Mr.  Blair,  I  notice  that  m  lines  16  and  17, 
for  an  "assistant  prmcipal,  who  shall  be  dean  of  girls  of  the  Central 
High  School,"  you  have  estimated  $2,000.  Even  if  we  should  give 
you  that  estimate,  the  excellent  woman  that  you  say  wiU  take  that 
place  would  lose  $200  of  her  salary  ? 

Senator  Curtis.  The  first  year. 

Mr.  Blair.  She  would  lose  in  all  $300  before  she  got  back  to  the 
basic,  but  she  would  go  ultimately  to '$2,500. 

Senator  Smith.  She  would  make  that  up  afterwards. 

Mr.  Blair.  In  a  way  she  would  make  it  up.  We  did  that.  Senator, 
realizing  that  that  was  unfortunate.  We  would  be  very  glad  to  have 
a  proviso  that  anyone  appointed  from  the  present  system  should  not 
suffer  loss  of  salary,  if  the  committee  thought  that  wise;  but  we  also 
felt  that  it  was  not  fair  to  ask,  in  the  abstract,  over  a  basic  $2,000  for 
the  salary  for  those  two  positions.  This  was  an  exceptional  instance 
at  this  time. 

Senator  Smith.  She  would  eventually  get  that  back  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  She  would  eventually  go  to  $2,500;  but  we  have 
thought,  in  our  estimate,  that  it  might  be  protected.  The  proviso 
at  the  end  of  the  estimate  is  that  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1917, 
each  principal,  and  the  dean  of  the  girls'  school  shall  receive  the  salary 


174  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  ' 

in  each  class  next  above  his  present  salary.  In  other  words,  the  pro- 
viso, both  as  to  the  high-school  principals  and  as  to  the  dean  and 
assistant  principal  of  the  Central  High  School,  would  protect  them 
in  respect  to  their  salaries. 

We  asked  for  a  director  of  penmanship,  which  the  House  was  good 
enough  to  give  us.     There  is  no  change  there. 

ASSISTANT    DIRECTOR    OF    PRIMARY    INSTRUCTION. 

On  page  40  of  the  bill,  line  3,  there  is  a  difference,  which  has  con- 
tinued for  a  long  while,  in  the  salary  of  the  assistant  director  of  pri-  i) 
mary  instruction.     That  is  the  position  in  the  colored  schools  cor-  j; 
responding  to  the  director  of  primary  instruction  in  the  wliite  schools.  {; 
It  has  been  customary  to  hold  a  salary  difference  of  about  $400  \ 
between  the  director  and  the  assistant  director.     Several  years  ago, 
when  the  salary  of  the  director  was  increased  from  $1,800  to  $2,200, 
the  salary  of  the  assistant  director  was  left  at  $1,400.     Wo  asked  at    ^ 
that  time,  and  we  have  repeated  that  recommendation  since  then, 
that  the  salary  of  tlie  assistant  director  might  be  placed  at  a  basic  ; 
$1,800,  the  salary  of  the  director  having  been  placed  at  $2,200,  if  I  : 
remember  rightly. 

Senator  Siniith.  There  was  an  increase  in  the  salary  of  the  principal,    , 
but  none  in  that  of  the  assistant  ? 

Ml'.  Blair.  There  was  an  increase  in  the  salary  of  the  dhector,  but 
not  in  the  salary  of  the  assistant  dhector;  and  in  other  cases  where 
the  same  relations  exist  the  salary  of  the  assistant  has  borne  about 
that  same  proportion  to  the  salary  of  the  principal  or  the  director. 

ASSISTANT    DIRECTORS. 

We  have  asked  for  the  assistant  directors  of  the  seven  subjects — 
it  was  formerly  six  subjects,  now  it  is  seven,  by  reason  .of  the  addi- 
tion of  penmanship — that  the  longevity  pay  might  be  increased  to 
$100  instead  of  $50  per  annum.  The  reason  back  of  that  is  this:  The 
assistant  director  is  now  appointed  at  a  salary  of  $1,300,  with  an 
annual  longevity  for  five  years  of  $50  additional,  bringing  the  maxi- 
mum salary  to  $1,550.  A  high-school  teacher  who  has  no  more  quali- 
fications, perhaps  not  as  much,  teaching  these  special  subjects,  is 
appointed  at  a  basic  $1,000  and  goes  to  $1,800;  and  wc  actually  have 
all  through  the  colored  system  the  position  of  director  of  those  seven 
departments  di'awing  $250  less  than  the  teachers  in  the  high  school 
who  are  teaching  the  same  subjects.  The  result  of  this  would  be 
simply  to  give  to  those  assistant  directors  a  maximum  salary  equal 
to  the  high-school  salaries.  If  a  vacancy  occurs  in  those  positions, 
and  we  want  to  take  the  best  high-school  teacher  that  we  have  to  fill 
any  one  of  the  positions  of  assistant  director,  it  means  a  permanent 
sacrifice  to  that  teacher  of  $250  a  year,  and  the  result  is  that  we  are 
not  able  to  use  the  best  we  have  in  our  own  system,  becauso-none  of 
them  can  afford  to  make  that  sacrifice. 

PLAYGROUNDS   AND   VACATION   SCHOOLS. 

On  page  41  we  ask  for  $7,000  to  cover  the  care,  instruction,  and 
supervision  of  children  and  salaries  in  connection  with  the  play- 
grounds and  vacation  schools.     We  are  now  raising  that  money  by 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPKOPKIATIOX    BILL,  1017.  175 

school  entertainments,  citizens'  association  entertainments  given  on 
tlie  school  premises,  garden  parties,  every  form  of  activity  that  can 
be  invented  and  be  within  the  law  as  to  the  use  of  school  buildings, 
in  respect  to  solicitation  of  subscriptions,  etc. 

We  feel  genuinely  that  an  appropriation  of  $7,000  in  a  community 
of  this  size  for  the  work  of  the  playground  and  vacation  schools  is  not 
a  large  amount.  We  are,  raising  about  five  or  six,  approximately 
$7,000  by  this  voluntary  method.  It  stirs  up  the  schools  durmg 
the  year,  and  it  residts  in  inequalities,  because  one  neighl)orhood 
will  be  very  loyal  to  their  school  and  have  a  very  successful  enter- 
tainment, and  then  they  will  reserve,  as  they  have  the  right  to, 
because  it  is  a  private  function  entirely,  $100  or  $200  for  their  own 
playground,  and  turn  over  perhaps  as  much  to  the  public  pla}^- 
grounds  or  the  school  ph\Ygrounds.  That  gives  an  advantage  to  the 
communities  where  they  are  able  to  raise  funds  with  greater  expe- 
dition and  greater  ease. 

Our  vacation  schools  are  valuable,  but  we  are  practically  unable 
to  do  anythmg  along  that  Ime,  comparatively  speaking.  In  those 
schools  last  summer,  even  with  the  limited  opportunity,  if  I  recall 
the  figures  now,  we  saved  about  60  children  a  half  school  3'ear. 
That  is  to  say,  they  were  grade-school  children  that  were  deficient 
in  two  or  three  subjects,  and  not  likely  to  be  promoted.  They  went 
to  these  vacation  schools,  and  in  connection  with  their  play  they  got 
the  hour  or  two  hours  a  day  in  the  subjects  m  which  they  were 
deficient.  Tliey  were  certified  by  their  teachers  at  the  vacation 
schools,  who  were  our  teachers,  to  have  done  the  necessary  work  in 
the  deficient  subjects,  and  went  on  with  their  class  and  grade.  Now, 
that  was  an  average  savmg  m  the  scholastic  life  of  a  year  each  to  30 
children,  m  round  numbers.  I  do  not  remember  the  exact  number; 
and  then  there  is  all  the  school  playgromid  work  for  the  children. 
If  we  could  have  that,  it  would  elunmate  these  entertamments, 
which  would  be  a  saving  in  actual  tune  m  the  schools  durmg  the  year, 
because  it  takes  tune  to  prepare  for  them,  and  m  a  measure  it  hiter- 
feres  with  the  school  work. 

Senator  Gallinger.  How  many  weeks  of  vacation  school  do  you 
have,  Mr.  Blair? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  open  early  in  July,  and  the  schools,  the  playgrounds, 
and  gardens  close  about  the  middle  of  August.  It  is  a  six  weeks' 
term  of  work. 

Senator  Gallinger.  And  the  teachers  are  paid  from  this  fund 
which  is  voluntarily  raised? 

Mr.  Blair.  This  fund,  raised  in  the  way  that  we  have  described. 
We  have  not  a  cent  of  appropriation  from  the  pu])lic  funds  for  that 
purpose;  and  I  think  probably — this  may  be  a  httle  too  broad  a 
statement — I  think  we  are  the  only  city  in  the  country  that  is  doing 
this  work  by  voluntary  subscription.  It  is  a  part  of  the  municipal 
function,  and  universally  recognized  as  such  everywhere  else. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  these  vacation  schools  serve  any  children  that 
would  not  have  the  opportunity  to  attend  school  at  other  times  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  Not  in  any  large  measure,  sir.  I  do  not  know  that  they 
do  at  all.  I  think  probably  the  answer  would  be  that  they  do  not, 
because  the  compulsory  education  law  would  put  the  child  in  the  school 
during  the  balance  of  the  year,  and  we  would  hardly  get  in  the  sum- 
mer time  the  children  who  go  to  our  night  schools.     Of  course,  they 


176  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

are  all  of  them  employed  in  the  daytime,  between  9  and  4  or  5  in  the 
afternoon. 

LONGEVITY    PAY. 


Om-  estimate  for  longevity  is  shghtly  larger  than  the  House  has 
allowed  iis,  but  the  principle  is  recognized  by  existing  law,  and  if 
there  should  be  a  deficiency  we  would  appeal,  as  we  have  in  the  past, 
with  confidence,  to  have  it  made  up.  We  have  a  deficiency  this  year 
by  reason  of  not  accepting  the  school  board's  estimates  a  year  ago. 
We  have  a  deficiency  of  about  S35,000  in  our  estimates  this  year. 

Senator  Curtis.  In  the  longevity  department  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  In  the  longevity  appropriation.  The  appropriation,  I 
think,  was  .?425,000,  if  I  remember  rightly,  and  the  deficiency  will 
be  not  quite  S35.000,  and  the  teachers  will  have  to  wait. 

Senator  Smith.  They  have  allowed  you  S450,000  this  year  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  The}'  have  allowed  an  increase  of  the  amount  to 
$450,000. 

Senator  Smith.  You  asked  for  8485,000? 

Mr.  Blair.  "Wliich,  on  our  estimates,  would  be  a  deficienc}'  of  about 
$35,900  again;  but  the  fact  remains  that  this  year,  if  we  had  had 
about  $460,000.  we  would  have  gotten  through ;  so  we  may  get 
through  with  this.  Of  course,  that  longevity  item  depends  on  the 
persistence  in  service  of  the  teaching  force.  If  there  are  any  large 
changes,  and  new  teachers  come  in,  taking  the  place  of  teachers  of 
long  experience,  under  those  conditions  they  are  eliminated. 

XIGHT    SCHOOLS. 

The  next  item  is  in  connection  with  the  night  schools,  on  page  42. 
The  appropriation  which  we  have  had  for  a  number  of  years  has  been 
$17,500,  and  last  year  it  was  increased  to  $20,000,  which  I  believe  is 
repeated  now.  Those  night  schools  are  doing  a  remarkable  work  in 
this  city.  They  are  crowded.  They  are  popular.  They  are  meeting 
a  very  evident  demand  of  the  community  for  that  kind  of  an  oppor- 
tunity. It  is  not  merely  the  children,  but  it  is  the  grown-ups,  that 
seek  the  benefit  of  those  schools.  We  are,  under  the  present  condi- 
tions, able  to  open  them  about  five  months  in  the  year. 

Senator  wSmith.  Under  a  compulsory  law  the  children  would  not 
receive  as  much  benefit  from  the  night  schools,  I  presume.  Do  you 
find  children  going  to  these  night  schools,  as  well  as  to  the  day 
schools  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  In  very  large  number,  Senator,  because  we  find  this: 
We  find,  as  they  do  everpvhere,  the  child  that  gets  out  of  school 
along  about  the  seventh  or  eight  gi-ade,  having  reached  the  compul- 
sory limit,  and  says:  "I  want  to  go  to  work.  I  don't  want  an  edu- 
cation. I  know  too  much  now."  He  goes  to  work,  and  he  finds 
very  quickly  m  this  community  that  what  he  does  want  more  than 
anything  else  in  the  wide  world  is  an  education;  but  it  takes  him 
two  or  three  years  to  find  that  out,  and  then  he  is  a  sixth-grade  boy 
in  education,  but  perhaps  he  is  18  years  old. 

Senator  Smith.  Then,  as  I  understand,  it  is  that  class  of  chddren 
who  have  abandoned  the  school  and  gone  to  work  that  voluntarily 
go  to  these  night  schools  in  order  to  make  up  what  they  have  lost? 

Mr.  Blair.  To  make  up  what  they  have  lost. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  lUl".  17? 

Senator  Smith.  Ami  also  tho  gri)\vii  ones  who  realize  the  same  need 
of  education  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  Yes,  sir;  and  another  very  important  thing — the  for- 
eigner who  really  wants  to  be  an  American,  and  who  wants  to  learn 
to  write  and  speak  the  English  language,  and  get  some  idea  of  our 
institutions  and  some  idea  of  our  Nation. 

Senator  Smith.  I  think,  myself,  it  is  a  very  worthy  object. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  had  over  500  of  them,  I  think,  last  year  of  that 
particular  class — I  mean,  of  the  foreigners. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  see  that  your  estimates  are  $15,000  greater 
than  the  House  has  given  3"ou. 

Mr.  Blair.  Yes,  sir. 

Sonator  Dillingham.  That  is  quite  a  wide  divergence  of  view. 

Mr.  Blair.  Of  course  that  involves,  in  the  first  instance — it  would 
if  w^e  were  able  to  get  the  entire  amount — the  extension  of  the  term 
from  five  months  to  seven. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Do  you  think  that  is  necessary  ? 

]Mr.  Blair.  It  is  very  important.  We  get  those  who  realh'  are  in 
earnest — and  the  great  bulk  of  them  are  in  earnest — along  to  a  point 
where  we  are  reallv  doing  something. 

Senator  Smith.  Was  there  a  deficit  with  this  S2 0,000  \ 

Mr.  Blair.  No,  sir:  there  was  no  deficit.  We  can  not  make  any 
deficit  there.  We  just  have  to  stop  when  the  $20,000  gives  out. 
We  have  to  stop,  that  is  all;  and  we  can  not  extend  the  w^ork  at  all. 
We  can  simply  have  the  schools  that  w^e  now  have,  about  16  night 
schools  that  we  are  able  to  open  for  the  white  and  the  cok)red  people 
all  together. 

Senator  Smith.  How  many  scholars  ? 

Mr.  Thurston.  About  5,000.  I  know  we  run  an  average  of  about 
$4  per  student. 

Senator  Smith.  Did  you  have  them  for  five  months  last  year  % 

Mr.  Thurston.  We  liad  it  about  five  months,  and  there  was  an 
almost  universal  demand  for  an  extension  of  the  time.  In  certain 
classes — for  example,  in  the  classes  at  the  McKinley  Manual  Training 
School — there  has  been  such  a  demand  for  several  years  that  in  place 
of  running  the  classes  three  nights  a  week  we  have  to  have  three  shifts 
one  night  af  week.  That  is,  we  use  the  laboratories  or  the  equipment 
for  one  group  on  Monday,  for  another  group  on  Wednesday,  and  foi* 
another  group  on  Friday.  That  shows  the  real  demand  that  there  is; 
A  school  like  that  ought  to  be  open  every  night  of  the  week,  so  that 
different  groups  could  be  accommodated.  There  is  a  need  for  ex- 
tension of  the  work,  for  extension  of  the  term,  and  to  accommodate 
more  people  who  are  actually  waiting  for  the  opportunity. 

Senator  Smith.  In  other  words,  these  are  individuals  who  havd 
been  fighting  for  an  education  ? 

Mr.  Thurston.  Yes,  sir.  I  feel  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  import- 
ant funds  in  the  whole  bill. 

Mr.  Blair.  There  is  no  feature  in  the  whole  school  system  that  is 
doing  more  for  the  people  who  really  want  something,  w^ho  realize 
their  need  and  are  trying  to  supply  it. 

Senator  Smith.  And  making  scarifices  in  order  to  get  it? 

Mr.  Blair.  And  sacrificing  themselves  in  order  to  get  it.  I  might 
say,  in  connection  with  the  McKinley  School,  that  in  some  of  those 
45737—16—12 


178  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

special  classes  where  they  have  been  tr^ang  to  learn  the  fundamentals 
of  some  trade — millinerv,  or  shop  work,  or  something  of  that  sort — 
we  hare  been  turning  away  about  as  many  students  as  we  were  able 
to  take  in  for  the  past  two  or  three  3'ears. 

Senator  Smith.  This  relates  to  bo'th  boys  and  girls,  does  it  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  Yes,  sir.  It  is  universal  in  its  character,  and  it  would 
reach  everybody.     It  would  reach  both  the  foreigner  and  the  native. 

Senator  Gallixger.  As  an  illustration  the  pages  in  both  Houses 
of  Congress  avail  themselves  of  the  night  schools. 

Senator  Smith..  I  think  it  is  a  very  worthy  thing,  myself. 

Senator  Curtis.  I  do,  too. 

PAYMENT    OF    TWO    SALARIES    TO    ONE    PERSON. 

Ml.  Blair.  I  do  not  know  whether  to  take  up  this  matter  at  this 
time  or  not.  Senator:  but  we  have  got  to  take  it  up  at  some  point, 
and  perhaps  you  will  excuse  me  if  I  take  it  up  now. 

In  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  appropriation  bill  lor 
the  current  year,  which  was  approved  May  10,  1916,  the  very  last 
clause  of  the  bill,  section  6,  at  the  end  of  the  biU,  makes  the  following 
provision : 

That  *  *  *  no  money  appropriated  by  this  or  any  other  act  shall  be  available 
for  pa^^nent  to  any  person  rec■ei^'ing  more  than  one  salary  when  the  combined  amount 
of  said  salaries  exceeds  the  sum  of  $2,000  per  annum,  but  this  shall  not  apply  to  re- 
tired officers  of  the  Army,  Navy,  or  Marine  Corps  whenever  they  may  be  appointed 
or  elected  to  public  office  or  whenever  the  President  shall  appoint  them  to  office  by 
and  with  the^dA-ice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  or  to  officers  and  enlisted  men  of  the 
Organized  MiUtia  and  Naval  Mihtia  in  the  several  States,  Territories,  and  the  District 
of  Columbia. 

I  do  not  suppose  that  anybody  at  the  Capitol  had  the  shghtest  idea 
that  that  made  a  difference  to  the  public  schools  of  Washington  in 
any  way. 

Senator  Smith.  We  have  found  it  interfering  with  some  other 
matters  that  we  have  had  brought  to  our  attention. 

Mr.  Blair.  Well,  sir,  it  has  made  a  very  decided  difference  to  us. 
That  is,  it  is  a  matter  of  a  great  deal  of  importance  to  us. 

vSenator  Smith.  WiU  you  please  state  how  it  will  affect  you  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  It  affects  us,  in  the  first  instance,  in  res^Dcct  to  our 
military  instructors  in  both  white  and  colored  schools.  Maj. 
McCathran  is  a  clerk  in  the  State  Department;  and  with  the  salary 
wliich  we  pay  him,  some  five  or  six  hundred  dollars,  for  his  work  as 
military  instructor,  it  runs  his  combined  salaries  over  S2,000.  It  also 
affects  us  in  the  case  of  the  instructor  on  military  sul)jects  in  the 
colored  schools. 

Senator  Smith.  Have  you  an  amendment  which  you  could  leave 
with  us  which  would  cure  this  '( 

Mr.  Blair.  We  should  be  very  glad  to  draw  one,  sir.  I  have  not 
(Irawm  the  language  of  it.  It  also  affects  us  very  importantly,  and 
llie  reason  I  ask  for  it  at  this  time  is  because  it  affects  us  in  a  very 
important  degree  in  connection  with  the  night  schools.  It  affects 
every  night  high-school  principal  we  have.  Take  the  technical 
s  hool  alone,  McKinley  High  School.  We  have  there  a  principal 
whose  salary  is  S2,o00. 

Senator  Smith.  Does  he  render  service  to  this  night  school  for 
which  you  pay  him  a  compensation  which  he  would  not  have  a  right 
to  accept  under  this  law  ? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    ArPKOPKIATION    BILL^  1!)17.  179 

Mr.  Blair.  He  could  not  tiike  the  money  under  this  law;  and  he 
then  would  have  either  to  turn  that  building,  with  an  equipment 
which  has  cost  upward  of  $600, 000,  over  to  someone  else  for  the 
night-school  work,  taking  it  away  from  this  principal,  or  else  we 
would  have  to  call  upon  this  jirincipal  to  render  gratuitous  service 
for  the  night  schools. 

Senator  Smith.  If  agreeable  to  the  other  members  of  the  com- 
mittee, I  would  suggest  that  you  give  us  an  amendment  covering 
it,  so  that  this  can  be  taken  care  of. 

Mr.  Blair.  It  affects  actually  about  12  people  of  very  im])ortant 
functions  in  our  school  work. 

Senator  Gallinger.  There  would  either  have  to  be  a  repeal  of  the 
existing  law  or  an  exception  made  in  behalf  of  the  school  system,  I 
should  think. 

Senator  Curtis.  I  am  afraid  you  will  have  to  extend  it  to  others, 
because  I  have  had  a  number  of  letters  on  the  subject. 

Senator  Smith.  We  have  already  had  it  called  to  our  attention 
in  connection  with  this  very  bill.  Amendments  have  been  provided 
so  that  we  can  get  around  it. 

Ml".  Blair.  We  will  incorporate  at  the  proper  point  in  the  school 
estimates  then,  if  we  may,  a  suggestion  of  an  amendment  to  be 
incorporated  in  the  bill. 

SUPPLIES    for    night    SCHOOLS. 

Then,  we  have  asked  for  S250  additional  in  connection  with  the 
supplies  for  the  ni^ht  schools. 

Senator  Smith.  What  page  is  that? 

Mr.  Blair.  That  is  on  page  4.3,  at  the  top;  the  first  item,  sir. 
The  $2,750  is  the  amount  that  we  liave  had  heretofore,  and  we  have 
asked  for  $3,000.  That  is  fairly  indicative  of  the  fact  that  we  are 
not  so  much  expecting  to  equip  new  schools  as  we  arc  to  extend  the 
work  of  the  schools  that  we  have  already  organized  and  established. 

Senator  Smith.  You  are  extending  the  time  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  are  extending  the  time  of  instruction  by  something 
over  a  third. 

janitors. 

The  schedule  for  janitors  occupies  from  page  43  through  page  44, 
page  45,  and  the  fu'st  part  of  page  46.  I  can  only  say  in  regard  to 
that  schedule  as  a  whole  that  we  went  into  the  matter  with  very  con- 
siderable care.  W^e  took  up  a  schedule  which  had  practically  been 
created  as  buildings  had  been  built,  and  wv  tri(ul  to  come,  as  close 
as  possible  to  some  uniform  salary  and  some  uniform  labor  unit  to 
take  care  of  the  various  buildings,  classifying  them,  ai)))roximately, 
according  to  their  size  and  space. 

We  also  started  in  with  the  idea  that  men  from  whom  tlu^  school 
system  demanded  aU  their  time  12  months  of  the  year,  with  only  about 
2  months'  school  vacation  in  the  summer  time,  and  only  2  weeks' 
vacation  allowed  them  personally,  whose  labor  in  the  wintertime 
begins  frequently  as  early  as  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  laf^ts  until 
5  or  6  o'clock  at  night,  and  who,  with  the  broader  use  of  the  school 
buildings  in  connection  with  the  quasi  civic  functions  for  which  the 
use  of  the  buildings  is  authorized,  are  very  frequently  there  again 


180  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATION    BILL,  IGll 


1 


from  7  or  8  o'clock  until  midnight;  men  of  that  sort  who  are  compe- 
tent to  take  care  of  buildings  that  have  cost,  as  our  grade  buildings 
do.  from  S4(),()00  to  S150,000  or  S160,000,  depending  on  the  size  of  the 
building,  and  who,  in  respect  to  the  high  schools,  are  handling 
buildings  that  have  cost  from  a  quarter  of  a  million  up  to  a  million  and 
a  quarter  of  dollars ;  men  of  that  character,  who  are  in  a  way  respon- 
sible for  the  discipline  of  the  schools  themselves  when  in  session, 
because  they  are  really  quasi  police  ofTicers  in  charge  of  the  boys  at 
recess  time  and  around  the  school  building — men  who  were  competent 
to  do  those  things,  who  would  live  and  want  to  live  as  other  men  lived, 
who  are  married  and  have  families,  who  have  to  keep  themselves  and 
their  families  out  of  this  one  salary,  not  having  opportunity  for  any- 
thing else — were  entitled  to  approximately  a  living  wage,  if  we  could 
give  it  to   them. 

Those  were  the  considerations  that  went  into  our  redraftmg  of  the 
janitors'  schedule.  They  are  not  mere  caretakers  who  go  in  and 
swee])  the  building  and  scrub  it  once  a  week  and  do  things  of  that 
character,  but  they  are  men  who  have  to  be  men  of  hitelligence,  who 
have  Uy  have  a  courteous  disposition,  who  have  to  have  control  of 
their  tcmj^ers,  who  have  to  be  suitable  to  enforce  the  necessary 
discipline  in  the  schools. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  I  understand  you  to  say  that  these  people  are 
required  to  be  in  service  during  school  hours  ^ 

Mr.  Blair.  They  are  required  to  be  in  service  all  during  the  school 
hours.  The  theory,  of  course,  that  one  would  thhik  about  it,  is  that 
they  come  there,  open  the  building  in  the  morning,  and  close  it  when 
school  closes. 

Senator  Smith.  But  you  require  them  to  be  present  during  school 
hours  the  whole  dsiy? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  require  them  to  be  present  during  school  hours  the 
whole  day.  They  have  to  be  present  the  whole  time,  sir,  and  on 
Saturdays  they  also  haxQ  to  be  there,  and  they  are  responsible  for 
their  schools  at  all  times. 

Senator  Smith.  It  is  not  merely  kee])ing  their  schoolhouses  in  order 
before  juid  after  school  hours,  })ut  they  have  to  he  there  all  durhig 
the  school  hours  ^ 

Mr.  Blair.  All  during  the  school  hours  they  are  present. 

Senator  Dillingham.  They  have  to  act  before  school  and  after 
school  rnd  at  recess-time  in  controlliiig  the  children? 

Mr.  Et-air.  They  have  to  help  to  control  the  boys  and  play  with 
them,  and  then  of  course  they  have  to  get  the  building  ready.  If  it 
is  a  veiy  cold  season,  in  the  case  of  some  of  these  buildings  with 
their  old  plants  and  equipments,  the  men  have  to  get  there  as  early 
as  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  in  order  to  get  the  building  up  to  a  proper 
school  temperature  by  the  time  it  opens  at  9  o'clock. 

Senator  Smitil  I  have  not  gone  over  this  part  of  the  bill  in  detail. 
Has  th(>  11<)US(^  allowed  you  any  increase  ? 

Mr.  liLAii{.  My  understanding  of  what  the  House  has  done  with 
our  estimates  is  that  it  has  left  them  just  the  way  they  were  before. 

Senator  Smith.  There  have  been  some  increases,  though,  sir. 

Mr.  Blair.  They  have  made  some  slight  increases  in  one  or  two 
instances.  It  is  a  diflicult  matter  to  adjust  the  janitors'  schedule, 
because  it  was  at  odds  and  ends  in  the  first  place;  but  this  represented 
what  was  l)elieved  to  be  a  uniform  change  that  was  fair  to  everybody 


DISTFJCT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL.  1017.  181 

in  the  system.  Now,  ine(|iialities  might  arise  hiter  on.  They  have 
done  a  Httle  better  for  us,  I  think,  in  connection  with  the  new  Central 
High  School  as  to  numbers,  and  have  distributed  them  a  little 
differently:  but  they  have  done  one  very  serious  thing  to  which  Mr. 
Thurston  calls  my  attention  in  the  case  of  the  McKinley  School,  on 
page  44.  They  have  taken  out  there  an  assistant  janitor,  at  $720, 
and  put  in  a  night  watclnnan,  at  S600. 

Tlie  McKinley  plant  alone,  the  equipment  that  you  have  ])ut  into 
that  building  from  time  to  thne  by  ap])ropriation,  is  wortJi  some 
§600,000  now,  as  I  understand  it.  We  have  an  engineer  who  also 
teaches  in  the  classroom.  Then  we  have  an  assistant  engineer  who 
is  supposed  to  ''spell"  the  engineer  on  terms  of  duty,  so  that  one  of 
them  may  be  on  duty  at  all  times.  Then  we  have  this  large  and 
valuable  plant,  and  we  feel  that  we  need  all  that  we  ask  for  to  take 
care  of  it,  rather  than  any  reduction  in  the  number,  and  we  need 
them  at  the  points  that  have  been  indicated. 

While  you  might  not  think  so  offhand,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  dif- 
ference between  a  $720  man  and  a  S420  man,  in  the  amount  of  res- 
ponsibility you  can  cast  on  him,  and  the  amount  of  work  that  he  is 
ready  and  willing  to  do,  and  to  do  intelligently.  We  have,  however, 
a  good  many  $420  men  that  are  really  $720  men,  because  we  get  a 
pretty  good  class  of  employees  all  the  way  through. 

I  took  the  liberty  of  asking  Mr.  Robinson,  who  is  a  repn^sentative  of 
the  janitors — they  have  a  union  here,  and  he  is  a  representatiAC  man 
of  the  janitors — to  come  up  here  this  moriang;  and  if  you  care  to 
listen  to  him,  he  will  tell  you  with  some  detail  about  the  work  of  the 
janitors,  and  I  am  sure  he  will  not  detain  you  long. 

Senator  Smith.  Have  you  not  stated  already  the  duties  that  they 
are  required  to  perform  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  1  have  tried  to,  sir;  but  these  men  are  doing  it.  There 
is  that  difference.  I  have  not  been  at  the  schools  at  5  o'clock  in  the 
mornhig  to  get  the  fires  ready,  and  these  men  have.  That  is  the 
difference  between  us. 

Senator  Smith.  At  the  same  time,  you  have  stated  the  facts  con- 
nected with  it.  These  peoph^  are  rec^uired  to  be  there  fr(;m  5  o'clock 
sometimes  until  11  o'clock  in  order  to  look  after  the  schools,  and  also 
they  are  required  to  stay  there  all  day.  I  do  not  see  that  that  could 
be  made  plainer  to  us,  although  we  will  hear  the  gentleman  ])ric  lly. 

STATEMENT     OF     W.     H.     ROBINSOJJ,     ASSISTANT     JANITOR 
McKINLEY  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL. 

Mr.  RoBixsox.  All  I  should  like  to  state  is  that  Mr.  Blair  made  a 
little  mistake  there  about  the  two  months  that  we  have  in  the  sum- 
mer. We  only  get  15  days'  leave,  and  in  the  summer  months  we 
make  a  general  cleaning  of  the  school  from  top  to  bottom.  There 
is  not  a  thing  in  it  that  is  not  washed;  that  is,  it  is  washed  from  top 
to  bottom.  Everything  is  put  in  a  sanitary  condition  by  the  time 
the  school  opens. 

In  regard  to  coming  to  work  at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  a  great 
many  cases  the  men  stay  all  night.  When  I  was  at  the  Powell  Sciiool, 
for  two  months  in  the  year  I  had  to  get  there  always  before  5  ()'clo(;k 
in  the  morning,  sometimes  at  3  and  4,  and  I  lived  about  an  hour's 
distance  from  the  school. 


182 


DISTRICT    OF    COLL'MBIA   APPKOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 


Practically  at  that  time  I  averaged  from  four  and  a  half  to  five 
hours  a  niglit.  We  get  half  a  day  on  Saturday,  and  Saturday  and 
Sunday  was  when  I  made  up  my  rest.  I  was  broken  down  several 
times.  We  get  no  sick  leave  whatsoever,  and  of  course  when  we 
lose  time  in  that  way  it  is  a  hardship  on  us. 

The  salaries  that  are  granted  in  other  cities  are  far  higher  than 
they  are  here.  We  have  a  list  here  that  shows  that  in  the  eight- 
room  buildings  in  other  cities  they  average  about  58  per  cent  higher 
than  they  do  in  Washington  City. 

In  the  bill  as  passed  by  the  House,  the  House  of  Representatives 
granted  to  the  new  Central  High  School  and  to  the  new  M  Street 
High  School  salaries  averaging  about,  I  think,  20  per  cent  lower 
than  what  is  paid  in  other  cities  for  the  same  class  of  work;  and  yet 
those  two  high  schools  average,  according  to  what  they  allow,  from 
50  to  100  ])er  cent  higher  than  what  we  get  in  the  graded  schools 
or  what  we  get  in  any  of  the  other  schools  here  in  the  city  outside  of 
those  two.  If  what  the  board  of  education  requested  and  what  the 
commissioners  recfuested  hud  been  granted,  we  would  then  have 
been  getting  a  far  lower  salary  than  is  paid  in  other  cities  and  is  paid 
per  thousand  cu})ic  feet  in  the  new  Central  and  M  Street  High  Schools. 
An  eight-room  building,  if  paid  at  the  rate  of  the  new  M  Street  High 
School,  would  receive  $1,975,  and  there  was  only  SS54  put  in  for 
those  men.  Also  in  the  case  of  the  new  Central  High  School,  if  they 
had  paid  at  the  same  rate  in  the  graded  schools  they  would  have  paid 
Sl,52(>,  and  they  only  asked  for  $864. 

Senator  Smith.  What  cities  have  you  compared  with,  sir? 

Mr.  Robinson.  We  have  compared  with  practically  all  the  cities 
that  we  coultl.     We  have  a  list  here. 

Senator  Smith.  Just  leave  that  with  the  reporter. 

Mr.  Robinson.  Also,  we  have  a  comparison  of  the  rates  paid  in 
those  two  buildings  and  those  paid  in  similar  buildings  in  St.  Louis 
and  New  York  and  in  the  Municipal  Building. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Had  we  not  better  include  those  statements 
in  the  hearing,  Mr.  Chairman? 

Senator  Smith.  The  reporter  will  please  insert  them. 

(Tlie  statements  referred  to  are  as  follows:) 

Comparison  of  salaries  of  the  janitors  of  the  District  of  Columbia  schools  and  those  of  other 

cities. 


City. 

School 
census. 

'""^ir 

Per  cent 

above 

Di.'^trict  of 

Columbia 

salary. 

8-ROOM   BUILDINGS  OR  EQUIVALENT. 

Washington,  D.  C 

56. 563 
l(i,  830 
22, 459 
38. 410 
80,872 
35,527 
75,852 
15,398 
13,322 
29,000 
2,900 
29,385 
15,  708 

S50.00 

Per  cent. 

70.00 

" 40.0 

Uichrnoml,  Va 

Denver,  Colo 

75.00                  50  0 

I'ittslmiKh,  I'a 

San  Kraneisco,  Cal 

San  Antonio.  'I'ex 

75. 00  i               50. 0 
0.5.00                  30  0 

St.  Joseph ,  Mo 

(iO.OO  :                20.0 

St.  I'aul,  Minn 

07.50  1               35.0 

Concord,  N.  H 

5.5.00                  10.0 

Providenee,  U.I 

55.00  1                10.0 

Kansas  City,  Kans 

05. 00  1               30. 0 

DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 


183 


Comparison  of  salaries  of  the  lanitors  of  the  District  of  Columbia  schools  and  those  of  other 
cit  ies — Continued . 


City. 


S-ROOM  BUILDINGS  OR  EQUIVALENT— COntmueJ. 


Kail  River.  Mass 

New  YorkCitv.N.  Y 

Bridgeport ,  C^nn 

Springfield.  Mass 

Yonkers.  X .  Y 

Columbus,  Ohii 

Waterbury ,  Conn 

Harrisbiirg.  Pa 

Rochester.  X.  Y 

Omaha,  Xebr 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

Los  Angeles,  Cal 

Chicaeo.  Ill 

Detroit,  Mich 

Wilkesbarre,  Pa 

Sommerville,  Mass. . . 

Camden,  X.  J 

Xewark,  X.  J 

Boston,  Mass 


12-ROOM   BUILDINGS  OR  EQUIVALENT. 


Washington,  D.  C. 
Camden,  X.  J 


14-ROOM   BUILDINGS  OR  EQUIVALENT. 


Washington.  D.  C. 
Camden,  X.  J 


2S-ROOM   BUILDING. 


Hoboken, X.  J. 


HIGH  SCHOOLS. 


Washington.  D.  C. 
Hoboken, X.  J 


FIRST  ASSISTANT. 


Washington,  D.  C. 
Hoboken,  X.J... . 


SECOND  ASSISTANT. 


Washington,  D.  C. 
Hoboken,  X.  J 


School 
census. 


Salary  per 
month. 


10,335 

,485,706 

17,885 

15^534  I 
22,630 
23,412  I 
11,778 
29,  722 
22.295  I 

195,076  I 
87, 199 

332, 248 
77,624 
12,283 
13,205  I 
15,035  I 
67,508 

190, 222 


56,563 
15,035 


.56, 563 
15, 035 


56,563 
19,  750 


56,563 
19, 750 


56,563 
19, 750 


•570. 00 
123.50 
60.00 
80.00 
75.00 
63.00 
60.00 
60.00 
92.50 
78.00 
110.00 
108.00 
119.00 
86.  .50 
65.00 
65.00 
70.00 
104.00 
100.00 


60.00 
91.00 


70.00 
100.00 


75.00 
200.00 


60.00 
100.00 


60.00 
75  00 


Per  cent 

above 

District  of 

Columbia 

I     salary. 


PcT  cent. 
40.0 
146.0 
20.0 
60.0 
50.0 
22.0- 
20.0 
20.0 
85.0 
56.0 
120.0 
116.0 
128.0 
75.0 
30.0 
30>0 
40.0 
108.0 
100.0 


The  average  in  32  cities  is  oS  per  cent  greater  than  in  Washington,  D.  C. 


184 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPPJATIOX    BILL,  lOV 


JAXITORS    AND    CARE    OF    BUILDINGS   AND    GROUNDS. 

A  comparative  statement  of  cost  of  labor  for  heating,  cleaning,  and  supervision  of  schools, 
as  compared  irith  the  new  Central  High  School  and  the  nev:  M  Street  High  School. 


Name  of  Iniilding. 


Area  in 
square 
feet. 


Cost 
allowed 

by 
Hoiise 
of  Repre- 
senta- 
tives. 


Cost  esti 
mated  Cost,  if 
by  Dis-  at  rate 
trict  of  '  allowed 
Colum-    newCen 

bia  Com-   tral  High 


mission. 

School. 

ers. 

822, 760 

S16. 100 

11,000 

8,121 

2,880 

4,579 

3,480 

4,579 

3,360 

4,579 

1,920 

2,749 

2,880 

4,579 

2,220 

3,653 

3,000 

4,579 

2,440 

3,053 

1,920 

2,749 

6.280 

6,106 

1,560 

2,242 

1,164 

1,831 

864 

1,526 

780 

1,221 

Cost,  if 
at  rate 
allowed 
new  M 
Street 
High 
School. 


Differ- 
ence in      T>m„ 

Ibuildings- 


Kew  Central  High 

>'ew  M  Street  High 

Old  Central  High 

Business  High 

■Wilson  Normal  and  Rtss 

Jefferson  School 

Western  High 

Franklin  School 

Normal  Xo.  2 

Eastern  High 

Steavens  School 

McKinley  High 

Nine  16-room  buildings 

Twenty-two  12-room  buildings  . 
Eleven  9  and  10  room  buildings.. 
Seventy-three  S-room  buildings. 


262,000 
133,000 
75,000 
75,000 
75,000 
45,000 
75,000 
60,000 
75,000 
50,000 
45,000 
100,000 
40,000 
30.000 
25.000 
20.000 


816,100 
10,500 
2.400 
2,400 
3,000 
1,520 
2,500 
1.980 
2.040 
1,680 
1,620 
5,860 
1,200 
1,020 
700 
600 


S20, 
10, 


$4,440 


.900 
,900  ! 
.5.52 
.900 
,947 
,900 
.947  1 
,552  I 


1,099 
1,219 

769 
1.C99 

833 
1,579 

813 

829 


682 


3,020 
2,420 
2,540 
1,572 
3.020 
1.727 
2,900 
1,707 
1,632 
1,650 
1,579 
1,204 
1.109 


Name  of  building. 


Area  in 
square 
feet. 


At  rate  paid 
A  t  rate  paid    Washing- 
District     I  ton  Irving 
Building.  Hish 

Washing-        School, 
ton,  D.  C.    New  York, 
;       N.  Y. 


.\t  rate  paid 

Soldan 

High 

School.  St. 

Louis.  Mo. 


Rate  as  es- 
tablished 
by  House 
of  Repre- 
sentatives. 


New  Central  nii;h  School.. 
New  M  Street  High  School. 


262, 000 
133, 000 


843,010    826,671 
21,833     13,589 


827,444 
13,931 


Mr.  Robinson.  We  have  also  been  classed  as  a  grade  of  laborers. 
Really,  in  a  great  many  cases  we  are  not  laborers.  We  hare  26  men 
that  are  classed  as  janitors  in  the  public  schools  of  Washington 
who  are  required  to  take  examinations  before  the  engineer  board 
and  get  licenses  as  licensed  engineers.  Outside  of  that  we  are  all 
required  to  be  mechanics.  ^Vll  of  the  school  furnishings  in  the  summer 
time  that  are  changed,  we  do.  It  does  not  cost  the  board  of  ((hica- 
tion  one  dollar  to  cnange  th(>  furnishings  from  school  to  school.  We 
do  it,  even  during  the  school  term. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  mean  you  make  the  repairs? 

Mr.  Robinson.  We  make  the  repairs  wherever  it  is  possible,  such 
as  minor  repairs;  but  we  have  to  take  furniture  from  the  floor  and 
replace  it.  That,  up  to  some  years  ago,  had  been  paid  for  by  contract. 
That  is  all  doiu^  Ijy  the  janitors  now.  At  tlie  present  time  I  am  as- 
sistant janitor  of  the  McKinley  Manual  Training  School.  As  far  as 
furniture  is  concerned,  we  practically  do  all  the  repairing  that  is  done 
to  the  fuiniture  there,  and  in  the  graded  school  a  man  does  not  have 
quite  the  opportunity  that  we  have  there.  We  do  not  have  the  heat- 
ing there. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  say  you  are  assistant  janitor  at  the 
McKinley  Manual  Training  School? 

Mr.  Robinson.  Yes,  sir. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  185 

Senator  Gallixgek.  What  salarv  do  vou  get  now? 

Mr.  RoBixsoN.  I  got  S720. 

Senator  Gallinger.  And  you  give  all  ^'our  time  ? 

Mr.  Robinson.  ^Ul  my  time.     I  give  10  liours  every  day. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Have  you  a  family? 

Mr.  Robinson.  Yes,  sir.  1  manage  to  live  in  a  four-room  flat 
for  which  I  pay  SI 7.25  rent. 

Senator  Smith.  Have  you  any  oth(>r  occupation  whatever? 

Mr.  Robinson.  I  am  a  tinner  by  trade.  1  do  get  some  little 
chance  now  and  then  to  make  a  dollar,  may])e,  in  the  evening,  if  I 
work  after  the  10  hours  is  up.  ^^^len  I  was  in  the  graded  schools — 
I  was  only  promoted  to  the  McKinley  Manual  Training  School  last 
September — when  I  was  in  the  graded  schools  I  was  so  exhausted 
when  I  got  home  that  I  just  had  to  fall  in  bed.  I  did  not  have  a 
chance  then  to  make  a  dollar.  I  got  S50  a  month.  I  have  now  just 
about  gotten  square  with  the  world  from  the  few  attacks  of  sickness 
I  had  in  that  way  while  I  was  there. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  you  use  some  of  your  time  for  making  money 
otherwise  ?     Have  you  an  opportunity  to  do  that  to  any  extent  ? 

Mr.  Robinson.  Well,  if  I  get  an  opportunity.  I  have  no  steady 
opportunity.  Sometimes  some  of  the  people  that  I  formerly  knew 
will  ask  me,  maybe,  if  I  will  fix  a  latrobe  lor  them,  or  something  of 
that  sort,  and  I  will  make  a  dollar  or  two  now  and  then;  but  I  have 
no  steady  way  of  increasing  my  income.  It  is  uncertain  if  I  get  any; 
and  then  I  do  not  think  a  man  really  ought  to  have  to  work  after  he 
has  put  in  10  hours  of  hard  work. 

Senator  Smith.  In  other  words,  you  have  to  give  10  hours  to  the 
school  ? 

Mr.  Robinson.  Ten  hours  to  the  school;  yes,  sir;  and  in  most  of 
the  cases  they  give  from  12  to  16  and  18  hours  during  the  winter 
months. 

Senator  Smith.  All  right. 

Mr.  Robinson.  I  am  much  obliged  to  you. 

STATEMENT     OF     HENRY     P.     BLAIR,     PRESIDENT     OF     THE 
BOARD  OF  EDUCATION— Continued. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  lost  the  Western  High  School,  as  you  know,  be- 
cause of  the  fact  that  we  had  no  appropriation  to  keep  a  man  1:here 
to  watch  it. 

Senator  Dillingham.  From  fire  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  From  fire.  It  ])uniod  a  couple  of  years  ago.  Then  we 
took  our  janitor  force — this  shows  the  spirit  of  the  force,  and  the 
character  of  men  we  have.  That  fire,  if  I  recall  correctly,  occurred 
there  on  Friday,  I  think.  Monday  morning  we  opened  that  school 
in  the  Franklin  School  building,  and  it  was  rendered  possible  by  the 
janitor  force,  who  took  everything  that  could  bo  taken  in  the  way  of 
equipment  and  put  it  in  the  new  place  where  we  needed  it.  They 
did  all  the  moving,  all  the  work.  Not  a  dollar  extra  did  any  man  in 
the  whole  lot  get.  This  shows  the  spirit  that  these  men  have  in  their 
organization,  and  their  desire  to  have  their  part  of  the  work  efficient 
for  the  schools  of  this  city. 


186  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOi^r    BILL,  1917. 

That  id  the  kind  and  type  of  men  we  are  having.  You  have  heard 
the  statement  as  to  their  remuneration..  The  men  who  did  a  great 
deal  of  that  work  were  the  $50  a  month  men  that  Mr.  Robinson  has 
talked  about.  Those  instances  are  constantly  growing,  and  they 
save  prol)ably  in  many  instances  more  than  their  salary  in  a  given 
year  by  the  minor  repairs  that  they  can  do  by  being  on  the  premises, 
which  prevents  a  condition  becoming  serious  and  requiring  a  major 
repair. 

Senator  Smith.  Your  information  given  me  this  morning  was  some- 
thing I  was  not  aware  of  previously.  That  is,  that  these  men  not 
only  have  to  get  the  schools  in  order,  but  they  have  to  give  their 
time  during  school  hours.     In  other  words,  it  is  a  continuous  service. 

Mr.  Blair.  They  are  there  all  the  time,  practically. 

WATCHMEN. 

I  have  covered  in  that  general  way  the  entire  janitor  schedule. 
Now,  we  ask  for  two  watchmen.  They  have  not  been  allowed,  have 
they,  Mr.  Thurston  ? 

Mr.  Thurston.  No. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  asked  for  two  watchmen.  It  appears  here  in  the 
printed  f-opy  on  page  46.  We  asked  for  a  w^atchman  for  the  McKinley 
Manual  Training  School  and  a  watchman  for  the  Armstrong  Manual 
Training  School,  two  of  them  at  ?50  a  month,  or  $600  for  the  year, 
amounting  to  $1,200.  As  I  have  abeady  indicated,  the  equipment, 
the  shops,  and  the  machinery  and  the  tools,  and  the  laboratories  at 
the  McKinley  Manual  Training  School,  represent  upward  of  $600,000 
investment.  We  have  nobody  there  to  watch  that  investment  at 
night  after  the  school  buildings  are  closed  until  the  next  day. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Do  they  have  evening  schools  there? 

Mr.  Blair.  The  night  schools  are  there  for  five  or  six  months,  as  I 
have  indicated,  three  nights  a  week.  In  the  Armstrong  School — that 
is  the  colored  manual  training  school,  where  they  have  not  a  watch- 
man— the  equipment,  of  course,  is  not  as  expensive,  because  the 
school  is  not  as  large  a  school;  but  we  have  a  valuable  equipment 
there,  and  the  loss  of  either  one  of  those  schools  would  mean  a  very 
heav}^  expenditure  to  re-equip  the  schools  for  tlie  special  work  the^- 
are  doing. 

]\L\TRONS. 

I  hope  that  what  I  am  about  to  say  about  the  matrons,  if  it  is  to  be 
printed,  may  be  printed  in  expurgated  form. 

They  are  asking  for  matrons  because  of  occurrences  in  the  last  two 
or  three  j^ears  particularly,  which  have  been  unfortunate.  We  are 
asking  for  them  at  the  high  schools  and  at  the  larger  graded  schools. 
It  is  in  order  that  we  may  have  women  present  at  those  school  build- 
ings down  in  the  playrooms  and  toilet  rooms  of  those  schools.^  There 
have  been  in  the  graded  schools  some  unfortunate  occurrences.  For- 
tunately, thei'e  has  been  no  outrage  per])etrated  or  anything  of  that 
sort,  but  on  thfferent  occasions  men  have  ])een  discovered  lurking 
around  the  girls'  toilet  rooms.  vSome  of  the  buildings  are  constructed 
so  that  the  access  is  not  difhcult  directly  from  the  streets.  All  of  the 
buildings  are  practically  constructed  so  that  an  evil-minded  person 
intcndhig  to  sneak  in  would  likely  be  successful.     That  portion  of 


DISTKICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  187 

the  building  is  practically  iniwatchcd  aiul  unoccupied.  We  have 
only  taken  tl\e  larger  school  buildings,  the  grade  schools  and  the  high- 
school  buildings,  and  are  asking  that  we  nniy  be  allowed  to  put  in 
those  different  buildings  matrons  whose  duties  will  be  of  the  kin.d 
that  I  have  described. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Mr.  Blair,  what  about  the  schools  of  other 
cities  in  this  respect  ? 

Senator  Smith.  I  was  about  to  ask  that  cpiestion. 

Senator  Gallixger.'  Of  course  we  are  enlarging  our  system  year 
by  3-ear,  but  we  do  not  want  to  go  too  fast.     Is  this  an  innovation? 

Mr.  Blair.  I  should  say  in  answer  to  that.  Senator,  that  it  is  not 
an  innovation;  that  it  is  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception  in  high 
schools  generally;  and  that  when  you  have  a  16-room  grade  school, 
crowded  as  mam*  of  ours  are,  you  have  practically  a  high  school  from 
that  viewpoint. '  We  have  600,  700,  pretty  close  to  800  pupils,  take 
them  all  in  all,  in  some  of  our  grade  schools;  and  that  is  as  large  as 
two  or  three  of  our  high  schools. 

Senator  Smith.  In  other  words,  schools  of  this  character  in  other 
cities  are  supplied  with  matrons? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  think  that  schools  of  the  character  that  we  have 
picked  out  would  be  supplied  with  matrons  in  the  large  majority  of 
cities. 

Senator  Smith.  This  is  an  exception  to  that  rule,  then  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  This  is  not  an  exception  to  that  rule,  Senator. 

Senator  Smith.  Not  having  them  is  an  exception  to  the  rule  'i 

Mr.  Blair.  Yes.  In  schools  of  this  character  I  think  that  would 
be  a  fair  statement.  There  are  a  good  nvdnj  things  in  connection 
with  the  girls  that  would  naturally  occur  to  a  physician  as  a  reason 
why  there  should  be  matrons  available  on  the  school  premises,  in 
addition  to  things  that  might  happen  from  the  outside. 

CARE    OF    BUILDINGS    FOR    UNGRADED    CLASSES. 

On  page  46,  line  18,  foUowino;  the  word  "schoolroom,"  which  is  at 
the  end  of  the  janitor's  schedule  and  just  before  the  medical  inspec- 
tion, we  ask  for  a  provision  for  the  care  of  buildings  and  rooms 
occupied  by  atj-pical  or  ungraded  classes.  We  asked  that  an 
allowance  might  be  made  of  S108  per  annum  for  their  care.  They 
have  a  duty  in  the  case  of  the  atypical  children  and  in  the  ungraded 
classes  they  have  the  duty  of  taking  care  of  and  looking  after  these 
unfortunates  w^ho  need  more  care  and  help  than  the  child  who  is  of 
full  intelligence  and  knows  how  to  take  care  of  itself. 

Senator  Gallixger.  How  many  such  schools  are  there? 

Mr.  Blair.  There  are  14  of  them,  I  think,  altogether.  My  recol- 
lection is  there  are  14  of  them.  We  are  not  asking  for  an  additional 
appropriation ;  we  are  asking  for  the  right  to  change  the  rat(^  of  dis- 
tribution to  the  people  who  take  care  of  those  schools.  That  is  what 
it  results  in. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes;  I  see.  Let  me  inquire,  on  that  point, 
have  you  schools  entirely  devoted  to  the  instruction  of  atypical  stu- 
dents, those  below  nomial  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  have  one  eighth-grade  building,  as  I  will  call  it— 
that  is  the  Morse — devoted  to  that  purpose,  and  we  have  rented 
quarters  devoted  to  that  purpose.     There  will  be  sections  of  the  city 


188  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

where  3'ou  are  not  justified  in  using  the  entire  building,  and  I  think 
many  of  our  rentals  that  are  still  remaining  are  for  buildings  adapted 
to  that  purpose. 

Senator  Gallinger.  If  you  find  a  child  in  a  given  school  who  is 
below  normal,  is  that  child  taken  from  that  school  and  placed  in  a 
school  where  instruction  is  given  to  pupils  of  that  class  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  Of  course,  the  ungraded  child,  Senator,  means  a  child 
that  you  can  not  handle — transmuted  into  common  English,  it 
means  a  child  that  you  can  not  handle — by  ordinary  methods  of  dis- 
cipline, and  the  atypical  child  means  a  child  whose  mental  gear  is 
out  of  shape.  If  the  case  is  really  serious,  so  that  it  is  a  detriment 
to  the  child  and  a  detrmient  to  the  class,  we  find  a  special  school  for 
that  child.  We  prefer  to  call  them  "special  schools."  A  boy  may 
go  there  because  he  is  "too  bright,"  as  we  frequently  say  to  the 
parents.  He  can  not  get  along  with  his  classes  because  he  goes  too 
fast  in  some  directions.  Those  we  undertake  to  take  care  of  by  send- 
ing them  to  the  school  that  is  necessary. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

MEDICAL    INSPECTORS. 

Mr,,  Elair.  I  think  that  there  is  nothing  else  on  that  janitors' 
schedule,  and  we  now  come  to  the  medical  inspection.  Three  years 
ago  Congress  transferred  to  the  school  board,  without  solicitation, 
or  suggestion  on  its  part,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  appointment  and 
supervision  of  the  medical  inspection  of  the  schools.  That  is  in  line 
with  the  general  practice  in  the  majority  of  cities.  It  is  recognized 
that  the  medical  inspection  of  schools  is  something  more  than  a  sani- 
tary proposition,  something  different  from  merely  preventing  epi- 
demics. It  includes  the  aid  and  the  care  and  the  building  up  ('f  the 
bodies  of  the  children,  whatever  defects  they  may  have,  and  it  is  a 
thing  that  can  be  conducted  better  and  made  more  efficient  by  the 
schools  because  of  their  intimate  relations  with  the  child  than  it 
can  be  by  the  municipality,  and  I  think  that  is  generally  recognized 
as  sound  policy  and  wise  administration.  We  have  found  that  it  was 
useful,  that  we  were  doing  better  with  the  children  and  getting  better 
results  from  mechcal  inspection.  We  have  had,  in  a  threatened  epi- 
demic, or  anything  of  that  sort,  the  heartiest  cooperation  with  the 
health  officer  of  the  District,  and  there  has  been  nothmg  along  those 
lines  that  was  in  any  way  serious  or  has  proved  unfortunate. 

In  line  with  what  is  best  along  the  lines  of  medical  inspection  we 
have  asked  that  we  be  allowed  to  have  a  chief  medical  inspector. 
Tliese  men  we  now  have  are  men  who  are  employed  at  the  rate  of 
$500  a  year.  Under  the  circumstances  we  can  not  very  well  expect 
a  physician  who  is  undertaking  to  build  up  his  ])ractice  and  to  sup- 
port himself,  and  who  is  a  professional  man,  to  give  all  of  his  thne  to 
the  schools.  He  is  not  justified  in  giving  it  for  the  salary  of  ^500  a 
year.     He  does  do  his  inspection  work 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  But  you  would  expect  your  chief 
medical  inspector  to  give  his  whole  time  to  it  ^ 

Mr.  Blair.  He  would  give  his  whole  time  to  it;  and  we  would  turn 
the  children  over  to  such  a  man,  and  he  would  be  practically  ex- 
pected to  give  his  time  to  the  work,  the  supervision  and  direction, 
and  participation  in  the  work  of  the  schools. 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  189 

Senator  Gallinger.  The  most  he  could  do  would  be  to  regulate  or 
direct  the  SoOO  men  to  do  then-  work,  and  if  they  can  not  afford  to 
do  it,  exactly  what  good  would  come  from  it? 

Mr.  Blair!  He  woidd  do  a  great  deal  of  it,  I  think,  himself.  He 
would  do  a  great  deal  of  close  inspection  of  things  that  the  present 
men  do  not  get  a  chance  to  inspect.  They  go  into  a  school,  and  there 
is  a  suspicious  case  of  some  kind  reported,  and  they  look  those  over^ 
and  they  go  in  and  look  the  children  over  generally  and  make  some 
tests  as' to  eyesight,  and  things  that  are  general  in  their  character; 
but  if  we  had  a  man  whose  entire  time  we  could  get,  he  would  not 
only  do  that  but  he  would  go  into  the  question  of  conditions  of  the 
buildings ;  and  in  special  instances,  where  he  started  in  with  a  child, 
he  would  be  in  a  position  to  follow  up  the  care  and  development 
of  that  child;  and  in  a  system  of  our  sort  the  number  of  children  that 
require  special  attention  and  following  up  by  a  doctor  rather  than 
by  a  nurse  is  large. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  there  not  friction  at  this  time  as  to 
who  is  the  proper  one  to  follow  up  these  cases  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  I  have  no  knowledge  of  any.  It  may  have  occurred^ 
but  nothing  has  been  said  to  us  that  indicates  any  friction.  If  there 
is  a  different  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  commissioners  and  their 
health  officer,  I  have  had  no  information  about  it  up  to  the  present 
moment. 

Senator  Gallixger.  What  would  you  say,  Mr.  Blair,  if  your  rec- 
ommendation in  that  regard  was  conceded,  to  having  the  item 
enlarged  to  this  extent: 

One  chief  medical  and  sanitary  inspector,  who  shall,  under  the  direction  of  the 
board  of  education,  assume  direction  of  the  medical  inspection  and  sanitary  conditions 
of  the  public  schools  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Mr.  Blair.  I  can  not  conceive  of  any  objection  to  that.  Senator. 
It  would  be  a  broader  term,  and  more  efficient.  We  might  be  able  to 
command  broader  duty  possibly,  under  that  language  than  under  the 
other. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Of  course  I  do  not  know  what  inspection 
there  is  as  to  the  sanitary  conditions  of  the  schools  at  the  present 
time  by  any  competent  person.  Disease  may  be  contracted  by  the 
children  because  of  unsanitary  conditions  existing  in  the  school 
buildings  which  a  man  of  tliis  character  would  be  able  to  discover  and 
remedy.     It  strikes  me  that  that  would  be  an  improvement. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Here  is  an  amendment  that  was  sub- 
mitted by  Commissioner  Brownlow  the  other  day,  and  I  think  it 
would  be  well  to  bring  it  to  the  attention  of  Senator  Gallinger.  On 
page  40,  after  the  end  of  line  24,  insert  the  follo^^dng: 

Provided,  That  the  medical  inspectors  of  public  schools  and  graduate  nurses  acting 
as  public  school  nurses  shall  be  appointed  by  the  commissioners,  but  only  after  com- 
petitive examination  and  after  having  had  at  least  three  years'  experience  in  the 
practice  of  medicine,  dentistry,  or  nursing;  and  the  medical  inspection  of  public 
schools  and  the  officers  and  employees  engaged  therein  shall  be  under  the  direction 
of  the  health  officer;  but  said  inspection,  shall  be  conducted  according  to  rules 
formulated  from  time  to  time  by  said  health  officer,  which  shall  be  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  board  of  education  and  the  commissioners. 

Mr.  Blair.  I  wiU  say  in  regard  to  that,  Senator,  that  the  transfer 
of  the  medical  inspectors  to  the  school  board  was  without  our  seek- 
ing, and  I  have  no  knowledge  to-day  how  it  occurred,  any  more  than 


190  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL^  ILIT. 

I  had  when  I  found  it  in  the  act.  It  certainly  occurred  through  no 
movement  initiated  by  the  school  board.  In  operation,  we  have 
found  it  useful. 

We  believe  the  more  efficient  method  of  handling  the  medical 
inspection  of  the  schools  is  that  the  control  should  be  where  it  is  at 
the  present  time,  and  that  the  school  inspectors  should  be  subject  to 
the  control  and  direction  of  the  superintendent  of  schools  and  the 
board  of  education.  It  has  operated  excellently  well,  and  I  was  not 
aware  of  any  movement  on  the  part  of  the  commissioners  to  regain 
control  of  the  appointment  of  the  medical  inspectors.  The  medical 
inspection  of  schools  is  a  different  proposition,  as  I  have  undei*stood 
it — I  am  not  an  expert  along  that  line 

Senator  Smith  of  Maiyland.  That  is  the  reason  I  called  attention 
just  now  to  the  fact  that  there  is  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
management  of  the  medical  inspectors,  whether  they  should  be  man- 
aged by  the  school  board  or  the  commissioners. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  have  made  some  investigation  of  this  matter.  The 
matter  has  been  up  before  one  of  our  trade  bodies  in  recommenda- 
tions from  two  01  its  committees.  The  health  committee  recom- 
mended a  return  of  the  control  to  the  commissioners,  and  the  school 
committee  recommended  its  retention  by  the  schools,  and  the  board 
of  trade  dodged  it  by  acting  on  neither  recommendation,  as  I  recall 
it.  We  had  some  occasion  to  look  into  that  matter  at  that  time, 
and  we  find  that  in  3.37  out  of  443  cities  medical  inspection  is  under 
the  control  of  the  board  of  education,  and  the  tendency,  I  think  it  is 
fair  to  say,  is  to  place  it  with  the  schools  rather  than  with  the  munici- 
pality. As  I  have  already  indicated,  the  physical  training  of  the 
children,  the  hygiene  of  the  children,  and  their  surroundings  and 
school  sanitation  are  peculiarly  matters  that  belong  to  the  board  of 
education  and  to  those  who  are  administering  the  schools. 

It  is  better  to  have  the  entire  handling  of  the  schools,  their  opera- 
tion, control,  and  direction  in  all  respects,  under  one  central  body 
rather  than  to  have  it  under  two  bodies;  and  we  have  heard  consider- 
able argument  along  those  lines  within  the  last  six  months  about  the 
schools  themselves.  There  is  likely  to  ])e  better  cooperation — per- 
haps there  should  not  be,  but  it  is  human  nature  that  there  should 
be  better  cooperation — between  the  inspector  and  a  teacher,  if  they 
are  alike  responsible  to  a  common  source,  and  there  is  likely  to  be 
better  control  over  what  the  teacher  and  the  inspector  are  trying  to 
do  for  the  child  if  they  are  subject  to  a  common  control.  Of  coui-se, 
the  proposition  from  the  educational  standpoint,  the  standpoint  of 
the  professional  teacher,  is  that  the  mind  and  the  body  of  the  child 
should  be  under  the  control  of  the  same  person;  the}'  are  doing  the 
work  with  the  child  as  a  whole,  and  you  ought  not  to  divide  his  re- 
sponsibilit3^  You  give  us  the  atldetic  control  of  the  child  m  the  way 
of  school  playgrounds,  his  play  time,  the  board  has  the  control  of  the 
development  of  his  mhid,  and  it  would  seem  that  there  would  be  a 
more  efficient  opportunity  to  follow  up  the  j)hysical  conditio^  of  the 
child  if  the  control  over  that  activity  was  in  the  same  place. 

As  I  have  said,  we  did  not  seek  this,  but  we  have  found,  we  believe, 
an  increase  of  eiliciency  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  this  control  was 
passed  over  to  us,  and  I  do  not  think  that  the  experience  of  munici- 
palities will  warrant  a  change  of  the  control  back  again.  I  had  no 
knowledge,  until  it  was  suggested  to  me,  that  there  was  any  thought 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  191 

along  those  lines,  and  I  would  like  to  add  that  the  suggestion  as  to 
increasing  the  authority  granted  hy  legislation  to  include  sanitary 
as  well  as  methcal  ins])ection  is  most  (h'sirahle,  because  that  will 
eliminate  any  ({uestit)!!.  We  had  assumed  that  we  would  make — 
we  had  expectetl  to  nuike — our  chief  ins])ector  res])onsi])le  for  the 
sanitary  condition  of  the  buildings,  and  that  would  clear  any  question 
about  that. 

Col.  KuTZ.  Mr.  Chairman,  if  1  may  say  a  word  on  tliis  matter, 
the  subject  of  the  control  of  the  sanitary  inspection  of  the  schools  has 
been  considered  by  the  board  of  commissioners,  and  they  feel  that 
there  are  adyantages  and  disadyantages  in  both  systems.  80  far  as 
the  pupils  themselves  are  concerned,  we  are  inclinetl  to  agree  with  the 
board  of  education,  that  the  sanitary  inspectors  and  the  nurses  should 
be  under  the  control  of  the  board. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  health  of  the  community,  we  feel  that 
there  would  be  some  advantage  in  haying  that  medical  and  sanitary 
inspection  under  the  control  of  the  healtli  ofhcer.  The  schools,  as  it 
is  well  known,  are  the  sources  of  many  of  the  contagious  diseases,  and 
it  was  with  that  thought  in  mind  that  this  suggestion  was  macle  by 
Mr.  Brownlow.  But  we  are  open-minded  on  the  subject.  We 
realize  that  you  sacrifice  certain  advantages  if  you  place  the  control 
under  the  health  officer,  and  there  is  a  sacrifice  of  certain  other 
advantages  if  you  place  it  under  the  control  of  the  board  of  education. 

Mr.  Blair.  I  think  w^e  are  open-minded,  except  as  I  presented  our 
views  about  it.  There  has  never  been  any  iriction  between  the 
commissioners  and  the  board  of  education  about  this  matter.  We 
have  always  talked  things  out.  All  I  meant  by  what  I  said  was  that 
I  did  not  know^  that  there  was  any  suggestion  of  returning  the  ap- 
pointing power  to  the  commissioners.  1  had  not  heard  of  it  until 
the  chau-man  spoke  of  it  just  nOw. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  suppose  the  suggestion  has  come  to 
you  that  the  commissioners  are  rather  inclined  to  take  charge  of  the 
public  schools  ? 

IMr.  Blair.  That  has  come  to  me  in  a  modified  w&y.  I  think  they 
have  changed  their  views,  rather,  in  that,  and  they  would  say  so  if 
you  could  get  them  to  speak  out  openly. 

Commissioner  Newman.  We  have  not  changed  our  views,  but  we 
believe  in  the  conservation  of  energy. 

miscellaneous. 

RENT    OF    SCHOOL    BUILDINGS. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  have  been  able  to  get  along  with  ii  little  less  than 
the  $16,500  that  we  have  asked  for  rentals  from  time  to  time.  This 
is  on  page  47.  We  have  reduced  it  from  time  to  time  just  as  fast  as 
we  could.  If  I  remember  tlie  figures  correctly,  when  my  ser\-ice  with 
the  board  of  education  started,  some  six  years  ago,  this  item  was 
$22,000  or  $23,000.  We  vcould  hke  to  have  it  left  at  $16,500,  which 
was  our  estimate.  We  may  not  use  $15,000  of  it,  l)Ut  we  furnish  each 
year  a  list  of  the  buildings  and  the  amount  of  rental  paid  for  each  one 
of  them,  and  the  situation  is  that  this  is  the  only  approi)riation  to 
which  we  can  go  in  the  event  of  an  emerg(vncy.  ^^  e  lost  our  Western 
High  School  two  years  ago,  and  by  crowding  the  grade  schools  in 


192  DISTfJCT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPBIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Georgetown — that  was  the  only  locality  to  which  we  could  go — wo 
secured  one  grade  building  to  take  care  of  the  first-year  class  of  the 
Western  High  School,  and  we  took  the  rest  of  the  Western  High 
School  over  and  put  it  into  the  Franklin  S-hool  building. 

We  were  able  in  that  particular  instance  to  take  care  of  that  school 
in  that  way.  but  it  might  happen  that  the  loss  of  a  building,  which 
might  be  through  an  epidemic  or  from  fire  or  from  any  one  of  a  num- 
ber of  causes,  would  be  in  a  locality  where  we  could  not  take  care  of 
the  children — and  that  would  be  particularly  true  in  the  graded 
schools — -in  the  locality  where  the  former  school  building  had  been, 
and  we  really  need  a  little  margin  in  that  item. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  have  been  receiving  $16,500? 

Ml'.  Blair.  Yes:  and  they  reduced  it. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marjdand.  And  you  asked  for  $16,500? 

Mr.  Blair.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  As  the  least  amount  you  have  been 
receiving  and  more  than  adequate  for  the  purpose  ? 

^Ir.  Blair.  It  has  been,  sir.  We  have  been  inside  of  the  appro- 
priation, and  we  have  been  cutting  it  down.  It  was  822,000  and 
over  when  I  came  on  the  board  six  years  ago,  and  we  have  volun- 
tarily cut  it  clown  from  tune  to  time  until  we  have  got  it  down  to 
816,500,  which  we  feel  is  needed. 

Sf^nator  Smith  of  Maryland.  AVhat  was  the  cost  last  year? 

Mr.  Blatr.  The  estimate  will  show  that  with  a  list  of  the  schools. 
It  was  814.685  last  year.  That  leaves  a  margin  of  less  than  82.000 
in  the  event  of  an  emergency.  We  never  can  tell,  Senator,  where  the 
matter  is  going  to  break  out.  Now  we  have  to  take  care  of  the  sewing 
schools  and  cooking  schools,  very  freciuently,  and  some  of  the  manual 
training  schools,  by  means  of  rented  quarters,  and  I  do  not  think  that 
we  will  spend  any  more  next  j^ear  than  last  year,  and  I  hope  a  little 
loss;  but  there  is  an  element  of  emergency  there  that  makes  it  desirable 
to  have  a  little  leeway  in  that  appropriation. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Is  that  unexpended  balance  turned  back  into 
the  Treasury '. 

]Mi-.  Blair.  Yes.  It  is  not  accumulated  as  a  fund.  It  may  onh' 
be  kept  open  for  a  year. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Where  is  the  money  now  which  was 
left  from  last  year  ?     Could  you  use  it  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  can  use  it  up  until  the  1st  of  July,  for  rented 
buildings. 

Senat  )r  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  could  not  use  it  for  another  year  ? 

Senator  Gallixger.  >s'ot  unless  reappropriated. 

Mr.  Blair.  Xo. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  "\Miere  does  that  monej'  go? 

Mr.  Blair.  Back  into  the  Treasury. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  the  surplus  you  have  will  go  back 
into  the  Treasury  and  it  could  not  be  used  for  the  coming  3^ear? 

Mr.  Blair.  It  could  not  be  used  for  next  year;  no,  sir. 

EQUIPMENT    OF   TEMPORARY    ROOMS. 

The  next  item  is  on  page  47,  lines  3  to  9: 

For  equipment  of  temporary  rooms  for  classes  above  the  second  grade,  now  on 
half  time,  and  to  provide  for  estimated  increased  enrollment  that  may  be  caused  by 
operation  of  the  compulsory  educational  law,  and  for  purchase  of  all  necessary  articles 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  19T7.  193 

an'l  supplies  lo  1>    ihhI  in  liv^  course  of  iiHUuction  which  nuw  l)c>  providcil  for  alypical 
and  ungraded  chitises,  SI. 000. 

ScMiator  Smith  of  JNlarvland.  Tlicv  cut  that  down  from  .15,000  to 
Sd.OOO^ 

Mr.  Blair.  We  had  .-^a.OOO  this  last  year,  and  avo  estimated  for 
$5,000,  and  they  cut  it  down  to  $4,000. "  The  character  of  the  work 
that  is  estimated  there  shows  just  where  we  need  it  and  how  much 
we  need.  We  actually  expended  last  year  $4,800  out  of  the  $5,000 
appropriation.  I  do  not  think  we  are  2;oing  to  have  as  much  margin 
as  that  in  the  appropriatit>n  in  the  future,  hecause  it  is  cited  as  a 
crime  at  the  other  end  of  the  Cai^itol. 

Senator  Smith  of  Alaryland.  Of  the  $5,000  that  was  appropriated 
last  year  you  used  $4,800  ^ 

Mr.  Blair.  Approximately,  $4,800. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  you  do  not  think  that  the  $4,000 
would  carr}"  you  through  another  year  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  No,  sir.  I  think  we  used  that  wisely  and  well  in  con- 
nection with  those  schools. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  had  a  surplus  of  $200,  as  I 
understand  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  About  $200. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland,  That  amount  can  not  be  carried  on 
for  the  next  year  ^ 

Mr.  Blair.  No,  sir;  none  of  these  balances  are  available  except 
for  the  year  of  appropriation. 

;  '  REPAIRS    AND    IMPROVEMENTS    TO    SCHOOL    BUILDINGS. 

In  the  next  item,  lines  10  to  15:  "For  repairs  and  improvements 
to  school  buUdings,"  and  so  on,  we  asked  for  $150,000.  The  agree- 
ment has  been  reached  by  the  House  for  $110,000.  We  have  a  very 
large  plant.  We  have  upward  of  200  school  buildings.  Some  of 
them  are  new  and  some  of  them  are  very  old,  and  this  item  repre- 
sents, as  it  is  now  admhiistered,  the  only  source  we  have  to  take 
care  of  those  buildings. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  got  $100,000  last  year? 

Ml'.  Blair.  Yes;  we  asked  for 

Senator  Smith  of  Maiyland.  Was  that  all  used  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  Every  cent  of  it,  I  think,  and  there  were  things  left 
undone  that  we  ought  to  do. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  probabilities  are  that  you  will 
have  use  for  more  than  you  used  last  year?  Undoubtedly,  you 
think  so. 

Mr.  Blair.  Last  year  we  made  two  estimates,  as  I  recall  it.  One 
was  for  special  items,  which  we  estimated  at  approximately  $150,000 
or  $160,800,  and  then  a  general  repair  item  of  $100,000.  We  got 
none  of  the  special  items  w^e  asked  tor,  and  we  got  the  $100,000  for 
repairs.  Col.  Kutz  knows  even  more  a])out  the  details  of  this  matter 
than  I  do. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  much  of  that  $100,000  a})pr()- 
priated  last  year  did  you  use  i 

Col.  Kltz.  We  spent  every  dollar  of  it,  and  could  have  used  $80,000 
more  if  we  had  had  it.  , 
45737—16 13 


194  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1!)17. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  think  I  recollect  you  testified  to  that.  I 
have  a  memoraiulum  on  that.  There  are  necessities  this  year  over 
last?     In  other  words,  you  did  not  have  enough  last  year? 

Col.  KuTZ.  No,  sir.  We  have  not  had  enough  in  that  appropria- 
tion for  a  numher  of  years. 

Mr.  Blair.  I  would  say  that  there  are  extraordinary  neglects  every 
year.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  private  corporation  in  this  country 
^dth  the  money  invested  that  tliis  District  has  in  its  school  plant 
that  would  undertake  to  let  the  physical  condition  of  its  plant  go, 
as  a  matter  of  administration,  the  way  we  are  compelled  to  here  by 
the  size  of  this  appropriation  for  repairs. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  you  feel  that  economic  manage- 
ment of  school  affairs  requires  the  balance  vou  have  asked  for,  of 
$150,000? 

Mr.  Blair.  Beyond  any  question.  I  think  we  could  justify  on  an 
amount  even  larger  than  we  asked  for. 

I  want  to  say  this  additional  thing.  I  wanted  to  confirm  my  recol- 
lection about  it,  and  1  have  asked  Col.  Kutz,  and  he  tells  me  that  this 
item  is  approximately  1  per  cent  of  the  amount  that  is  invested  in 
the  school  plant,  and  that  1  per  cent  is  considered  a  minimum  amount 
for  purposes  of  repair. 

Col.  Ki'TZ.  For  buildings  of  this  charr,'^t:'r. 

Mr.  Blair.  For  buildings  of  this  kind. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maiyland.  SI 03,000  is  about  1  per  c?nt  of  the 
amount  of  the  prop.-rtv  vou  propose  to  take  care  of  with  this 
81.50.000? 

Col.  Kutz.  Yes. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  would  like  to  inquire  the  size  of  the  sal- 
aries paid  to  the  school  board  for  this  work  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  Tho  board  itself  is  not  paid,  except  hi  the  opportunity^ 
to  serve  the  community  as  far  as  they  are  able. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  understood  that  was  the  fact. 

ALTERING.   REMODELIXG.   AND    REMOVING   OF    SCHOOL    BUILDINGS. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  have  a  number  of  special  items,  all  of  whicli  have 
been  omitted  in  the  appropriation  act  as  a  bill,  as  it  comes  to  this 
committee.  They  are  set  out  in  detail  on  the  slip  pasted  on  the  edge 
of  pagi-  47,  under  the  head  of  "Altering,  remodelmg,  and  removal  of 
school  l)uildings."     I  think  those  were  indorsed  b}^  Col.  Kutz. 

Col.  Kutz.  Yes. 

Mr.  Blahl  They  have  the  hearty  indorsement  of  the  engineer 
department,  and  they  are  all  of  them  items,  if  I  recall  them,  which 
the  iiuditor  has  stated  we  are  not  authorized  to  do  except  by  specific 
appropriation;  that  in  his  judgment  they  are  not  properly  chargeable 
to  repairs  as  the  other  item  is  rendered:  and  I  want  to  say  in  regard 
to  that,  that  they  have  had  careful  consideration,  and  we  belipve  that 
they  are  all  of  them  necessary.  Where  they  are,  for  instance,  like  the 
Central  heating  plant,  we  believe  the}'  are  in  direct  line  with  the 
economy  and  efficiency  of  administration.  Some  of  the  other  items 
in  there  are  minor  items,  and  nearly  all  of  them  are  things  which 
should  have  been  done  when  the  schools  were  constructed,  and  we 
would  feel  very  grateful  if   we  might   have  them  all  included;  but 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    DILL,  1917.  195 

if  not,  we  ask  that  wc  may  have  some  of  them  included  this  year, 
with  the  expectation  of  getting  the  rest  of  them  next  year. 
Senator  Smith  of  Maryhind"  Which  are  tlie  most  important^ 
Mr.  Bi.AiR.  I  think,  in  the  direction  I  recall,  the  very  lirst  item  is 
one,  and  I  think  perhaps  it  would  be  fair  to  say,  in  regard  to  the 
items  as  a  whole,  that  they  might  be  taken,  as  far  as  the  committee 
was  willing,  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  printed  here.  They  are 
all  of  them  important,  and  yet  we  have  lived  without  them  during 
the  past  year  and  we  probably  will  the  next  year.  But  we  would 
like  to  have  a  start,  if  we  might. 

PURCHASE    AND    REPAIR    OF   FURNITURE,   ETC. 

The  next  item  tliat  we  have  asked  for  begins  in  line  16,  page  47, 
"For  purchase  and  repair  of  furniture,"  etc.,  for  which  the  House 
has  given  S27,500.  I  would  like  to  call  attention  to  the  last  item 
of  83,000  for  the  removal  and  reerection  of  portable  schools. 
We  have  to  do  that  at  the  present  time,  either  out  of  contingent, 
or 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  item  is  that,  sir? 

REMOVAL  AND   REERECTION   OP  PORTABLE   SCHOOLS. 

Mr.  Blair.  The  last  item  of  the  estimates,  Senator,  on  page  47, 
on  the  slip  in  the  margin,  "For  removal  and  reerection  of  portable 
schools,  S3, 000. " 

Sen?  tor  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  are  obliged  at  the  present  time,  whore  we  have  to 
place  a  portable  school  because  of  the  overcrowding  of  a  neighbor- 
hood, to  take  the  school  down  and  move  it  and  set  it  up  out  of  our 
repair  fund.  It  costs  from  SI, 000  to  S2,000  to  do  that,  depending 
on  the  length  of  haul  and  the  condition  of  the  building  that  is  re- 
moved. It  is  a  serious  inroad  on  the  repair  fund,  which,  as  I  have 
already  indicated,  is  small  at  best.  This  would  be  a  reserve  for  that 
one  specific  purpose .  Sometimes  it  onl}-  costs  about  S500  to  do  that. 
If  we  did  not  move  a.ny  schools  we  would  not  use  a  dollar  of  it.  If 
we  had  to  move  four  or  five  schools,  this  appropriation  would  take 
care  of  it  rather  than  the  repair  appropriation,  where  it  certainly  does 
not  belong. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Have  you  any  fund  for  that  purpose? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  have  never  had  any  fund. 

Col.  KuTZ.  It  has  been  done  out  of  the  repair  item,  and  the  lan- 
o;uage  of  the  repair  item  authorizes  such  work;  but  the  commissioners 
feel,  as  the  board  of  education  felt,  that  that  work  should  be  provided 
for  separately.  If  this  appropriation  is  made,  the  language  in  the 
repair  item  should  be  modified  accordingly  by  cutting  out  the  reerec- 
tion of  portable  schools,  lines  13,  14,  and  15,  page  47. 

Senator  Gallixger.  You  would  take  out  the  entire  provision  in 
the  repair  item,  would  you  not,  if  this  was  allowed  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  If  this  was  allowed,  we  would  like  to  have  that  done. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Have  you  been  using  the  money 
appropriated,  namely,  the  $100,000 — a  part  of  that — for  this  purpose? 

^Ir.  Blair.  We  had  to  do  it.  It  was  provided  for  by  the  language, 
and  it  was  the  only  item  we  could  go  to  for  this  purpose. 


196  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  feel  you  would  like  to  have  a 
specific  fund  for  that  purpose  rather  than  to  have  it  come  out  of  the 
general  fund  for  repairs  ( 

Mj-.  Blair.  We  do  not  feel  that  it  is  for  repairs.  Here  is  a  crowded 
school  in  a  neighborhood  where  last  year  the  school  building  was 
adequate.  A  point  in  the  school  system  is  the  relief  of  the  congested 
school  conditions,  and  we  take  that  portable  building  and  move  it 
from  one  location  to  the  other.  To  charge  that  against  repairs 
diminishes  our  repah  fund,  which  is  aheady  low,  and  it  does  seem 
to  us  this  is  necessary.  This  is  to  meet  an  emergency  in  the  school 
enrollment  by  usmg  what  we  have  to  move  from  one  place  to  another. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Approximately  how  many  portable  schools 
have  you  now  in  commission  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  I  think  there  are  six  or  eight  in  use.  Tliere  are  three 
to  be  moved  from  the  Park  View  School  in  the  next  year. 

Ml".  Kramer.  There  are  five  of  these  portable  schools  that  must 
be  moved. 

Mr.  Blair.  Of  course,  we  are  in  a  situation  where  we  would  be  glad 
to  have  had  more  portable  schools,  but  we  regard  them  as  a  tempo- 
rary expedient,  and  we  are  not  asking  for  them  because  we  do  not 
want  to  have  any  more  than  necessary  in  our  system,  and  we  have 
gotten  along  with  what  we  have,  and  we  are  not  asking  for  any  more 
portable  schools.  They  are  not  a  good  thing,  in  other  words,  unless 
they  are  absolutely  necessary'. 

Senator  Gallinger.  They  were  appropriated  for  in  the  first  place 
to  meet  a  very  serious  exigency.  I  thhik  you  have  reduced  them  in 
number  this  year. 

Mr.  Blair.  I  think  the  number  this  year  is  less  than  it  was 
formerly. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Mr.  Blair.  And  of  course,  awaiting  the  completion  of  the  building 
at  Park  View,  we  have  had  three  portable  buildings  in  use.  At 
Congress  Heights  we  had  a  similar  situation  two  years  ago. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  have  you  to  say  in  regard  to  the 
next  item  ? 

PURCHASE    AND    REPAIR    OP    FURNITURE.    ETC. — AGAIN. 

^Ir.  Blair.  We  have  been  seriously  crippled  in  regard  to  the  next  l 
item,  "For  purchase  and  repair  of  furniture,  etc.,  $27,500,"  for  some 
time,  and  we  have  been  asking  from  year  to  year  for  a  liberal  increase 
in  that  item.     It  covers,  as  you  can  see,  a  very  mde  field.     It  covers 
practically  the  equipment  of  our  manual  training  schools.     It  is — 

For  purchase  and  repair  of  furniture,  tools,  macliinery,  material,  and  books,  and 
apparatus  to  lie  used  in  connection  with  instruction  in  manual  training,  and  inci- 
dentid  expenses  connected  therewitli,  $27,500. 

Of  course,  with  your  knowledge  of  the  educational  movement,  you 
understand  that  the  vocational  and  manual  training  schools  arc 
growing  more  and  more  in  demand  among  the  people.  We  arc  trying 
to  meet  that  demand  without  changing  our  school  system  in  any 
marked  way.  We  are  putting  this  prevocational  work  into  the 
seventh  antl  eighth  grades  of  the  school  buildings  where  it  seems  to  be 
demanded,  and  we  aiC  establishing  one  or  two  vocational  schools 
where  we  are  carr3-ing  a  coin-se  in  connection  with  the  manual  work 
in  such  a  way  as  to  hold  students;  and  yet  in  what  we  have  been 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  197 

doing  there  is  a  wide  tlemaiul  for  incroaso  in  its  operation  in  sections 
of  the  city  where  lieyond  any  doubt  it  meets  a  real  need  and  demand. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryhind.  Have  you  found  that  the  amount  of 
S27.500,  appropriated,  is  inadequate? 

Mr.  Blaik.  It  is  entirely  inadequate  to  expand  at  all.  The  esti- 
mates that  are  here,  you  understand,  ])ut  in  the  Estimate  Book,  are  the 
things  that  we  have  actually  contracted  for  at  this  time.  They  are 
the  obligations  under  which  the  fund  is.  We  have,  as  1  understand, 
practically  exper.ded  that  fund  vear  after  year,  and  have  been  cri])pled 
in  the  expansion  of  the  work  to  an.y  degree  by  reason  of  the  fact  that 
we  had  not  enough  money  to  expend  it.  I  could  name  ofl'hand  four 
places  in  the  school  system  where  this  prevocational  graded  school 
could  be  established  with  benelit  to  the  community  at  this  time,  ])ut 
we  haA'C  n.ot  the  money  to  put  in  the  equipment. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^Maryland.  In  other  words,  while  you  have 
expended  only  §27,500  you  have  not  been  able  to  do  the  work  in  this 
line  that  you  feel  to  be  necessary? 

All'.  Blair.  We  have  been  halted  in  it.  It  is  not  a  wnde  expendi- 
ture. We  buy  some  machinery,  some  type^\Tite^s,  and  things  of  that 
sort,  for  the  boys,  and  things  that  will  enable  the  girls,  along  cooking 
and  sewing  lines,  to  have  a  broader  course  than  otherwise.  It  is  not 
expensive,  but  we  have  not  been  able  to  keep  our  ecjuipment  up  to 
what  it  ought  to  be. 

FUEL,   GAS.   AND    ELECTRIC   LIGHT   AND    POWER. 

Not  by  way  of  asking  anything,  but  to  explain  what  the  situation 
is,  I  would  say  that  we  are  heating,  lighting,  and  furnishing  power  to 
our  school  buildings  for  $85,000,  which,  I  think,  was  the  amount  some 
8  or  10  years  ago.  We  have  been  doing  that  by  the  use  of  soft  coal, 
and  we  have  now  transferred  from  the  use  of  hard  to  soft  coal  in  over 
100  out  of  our  180  buildings.  Complaints  have  been  more  numerous 
the  past  3'ear  from  the  citizens  and  from  various  neighborhoods, 
arising  from  the  use  of  this  soft  coal,  than  they  have  been  in  other 
years.  I  have  talked  that  matter  over  with  Col.  Kutz,  and  he  feels 
that  perhaps  we  have  been  using  a  little  too  low  grade  of  soft  coal 
this  year  and  that  it  wiU  not  be  advisable  to  ])uy  quite  so  cheaply. 
I  hope  very  much  we  will  not  come  here  with  a  deficit  along  those 
lines,  and  if  we  do,  it  will  be  because  of  the  increased  basic  cost  of  the 
fuel  by  reason  of  the  better  quality  that  we  are  obliged  to  use  next 
year. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Do  you  use  automatic  stokers? 

Mr.  Blair.  Only  where  they  have  been  put  in.  We  have  a  great 
many  buildings  with  old  furnace  heat  in  them. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  Are  vou  able  to  complv  with  the  antismoke 
law  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  Pretty  well.  That  is  because  of  the  fact  that  our 
janitors  are  taught  how  to  fire;  they  go  at  it  in  earnest  and  learn 
how  to  fire,  ?,nd  only  in  rare  instances  do  we  have  complaints  of 
violation  of  the  smoke  lr,w. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  t^ntismoke  law  is  not  obeyed  in  this  city. 
It  is  violated  every  day  and  almost  every  minute  of  every  day. 

Mr.  Blair.  I  should  not  be  willing  to  be  put  in  the  position  of 
saying  that  we  never  violate  it;  but  we  do  jiretty  well,  I  think,  along 
those  lines. 


198  DISTKICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPEIATIOX    BILL^  1917. 

The  next  item  we  ask  is  on  page  48,  line  1,  "Eight  rooms  and 
assembly  hall  addition  to  the  Powell  School."  For  that  we  asked 
S4,200.  We  must  urge  that  at  this  end  of  the  Capitol.  The  present 
price  of  the  things  that  go  to  equip  that  room  will  make  it  impossible 
to  equip  the  Powell  room  the  way  it  should  be  and  rooms  always 
have  been  at  a  figure  less  than  the  S4,200  we  ask. 

CONTIXGEXT    EXPENSES. 

Page  48,  line  5,  "For  contingent  expenses,"  is  next.  We  have 
been  asking  for  an  increase  in  that  appropriation  for  some  time. 
We  are  sometimes  met  with  the  argument,  "You  did  not  spend  any 
more  than  3'ou  did  the  year  before."  In  economy  we  do  not — we 
can  not.  It  is  a  contingent  item,  and  the  fund  is  exhausted,  and  it 
is  one  that  has  to  be  carefully  watched;  and  of  necessity  many  things 
that  should  be  done  and  that  are  properh'  chargeable  to  contingent, 
we  do  not  do,  because  we  have  not  the  means  with  which  to  do. 
That  covers  a  very  wide  field.  The  new  thing  we  asked  for  was  that 
there  might  be  an  allowance  made  to  the  two  assistant  superintend- 
ents of  schools  of  .?300  each  for  garage.  The  situation  with  us  in 
respect  to  automobdes  is  that  the  superintendent  of  schools  owns 
his,  and  the  two  assistant  superintendents  own  theirs,  and  the  super- 
intendent of  janitors  owns  his.  AH  four  of  those  officials  pay  for 
their  own  machines,  and  they  are  allowed  S300  a  year  toward  the 
upkeep  of  those  machines.  They  have  to  buy  them,  and  they  pay 
for  them,  and  they  wear  them  out  in  school  service,  getting  less  than 
the  actual  cost  of  their  maintenance  in  that  allowance  of  §300.  We 
feel — the  board  has  felt — that  it  is  entirely  proper  to  ask  for  that  al- 
lowance for  the  assistant  superintendents  as  well  as  for  the  superin- 
tendent and  for  the  superintendent  of  janitors. 

PURCHASE  OF  BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE. 

Also,  out  of  that  item,  we  have  been  restricted  in  the  purchase  of 
books  of  reference  to  SI, 000;  that  is,  for  the  school  libraries  and  for 
the  general  school  library.  We  ask  to  have  that  changed  to  .?2,000 
so  that  we  may  spend  up  to  S2,000  out  of  the  contingent  fund.  It 
does  not  increase  the  size  of  the  contingent  fund,  but  it  gives  us  a 
little  more  room  to  get  books  we  need. 

Mr.  TiiURSTox.  May  I  ask  in  that  connection  that  we  have  nine 
high  and  normal  schools  at  the  present  time,  and  the  headciuarters 
offices,  and  the  only  fund  that  can  be  used  to  get  books  for  those 
libraries  is  that  $1,000,  which  is  an  average  of  $100  a  school,  which 
will  not  do  more  than  keep  up  a  library  in  the  matter  of  repair,  and 
we  can  not  get  the  modern  books  of  reference  we  ought  to  have.  So 
much  of  high-school  work  is  taught  in  connection  with  the  school 
library,  and  the  students  have  to  foUow  the  references,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  put  in  the  best  books  that  we  ought  to  have,  on  account 
of  the  limitation  on  funds. 

PURCHASE    OF  PIANOS   FOR   SCHOOL   BUILDINGS. 

Mr.  Blair.  The  next  item,  "For  purchase  of  pianos  for  school 
buildings  and  kindergarten  schools,  at  an  average  cost  not  to  exceed 
$300  each,  $1,500,"  has  been  fixed  on  the  recommendation  of  the 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  199 

Houso.  At  the  former  rate  it  would  have  taken  40  years  to  gWo  (>ach 
school  a  new  piano.  Fixing'  this  at  ."i^l.oOO,  it  will  take  only  32  years 
to  get  a  PAW  piano  in  each  school. 

Senator  Gallingek.  What  about  the  total  for  contingent  expenses  1 
That  is  in  line  13,  847,500.     Your  estimate  was  S5o,000. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  ha\  e  been  working  with  that  847,500,  but  we  have 
been  very  much  crippled  in  that  fund.  It  is  the  only  fund,  of  all  the 
funds  we  have,  out  of  which  any  unusual  expenditure  can  be  made, 
and  now  this  is  a  S3'stem  of  over  55,000  children,  growing  to  00,000, 
and  with  1,800  teachers  and  400  emi)loyees,  with  all  the  r.eeds  that 
are  new,  t)f  modern  education,  coming  up  from  time  to  time,  and  that 
is  the  total  amount  of  free  mon.ev  we  have  for  this  entire  system.  It 
is  about  81  a  child  we  ask  for.  Of  course  each  child  would  not  get  it 
in  just  that  form. 

ADDITIONAL    LABOR. 

Under  the  next  item,  beginning  in  line  17,  we  ask  for  8600  to  pay 
for  necessary  labor  in  the  handling  of  textbooks  and  school  supplies. 
There  haAC  been  only  two  people  to  handle  the  textbooks  and  sup- 
plies. The  House. gave  us  an  increase  of  8200  in  the  salary  of  the 
assistant  to  the  bookkeeper  and  custodian.  We  need  that  very 
badly.  There  are  times  of  great  pressure  there,  in  the  opening  of  the 
schools,  when  it  is  a  good  deal  of  a  proposition  to  get  the  supplies  into 
the  schools,  and  it  is  a  good  deal  of  a  proposition  to  get  them  into  the 
storehouse  and  distributed  there  in  an  orderly  manner,  and  that  is 
what  we  have  to  do  it  with,  just  those  two  people. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Your  estimate  says,  "I  ecessary  labor,  not  to 
exceed  8600." 

Ml'.  Blair.  That  is  for  labor  needed  on  these  occasions  when  there 
is  gi-eat  pressure.  For  instance,  you  have  to  take  the  textbooks  to 
the  children  within  a  week.  You  ought  to  take  them  to  them  within 
a  day,  but  you  can  not  do  it.  Tliere  are  45,000  to  50,000  grade 
children,  and  they  have  to  be  supplied  with  textbooks  and  all  other 
supplies  at  the  opening  of  the  scliools  each  year,  and  we  have  asked 
for  8600  to  cover  these  periods  of  emergency,  twice  a  year,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  schools,  and  the  stocking  of 
the  stores.  We  are  very  anxious  to  have  the  entire  amount  which 
we  have  asked  for,  8600,  restored. 

The  situation  is  that  this  is  the  source  of  the  free  textbooks  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  also  the  source  of  all  our  supplies,  and  there 
is  not  a  thing,  I  believe,  on  which  the  contract  price  will  not  be 
higher  next  year  than  it  was  this  year,  and  with  the  amount  we  are 
asking  I  do  not  know  whether  we  are  going  to  be  able  to  get  through 
or  not,  but  we  are  goin^  to  try  to.  We  can  certainh^  start  the  school 
year  with  it,  and  then  if  we  think  we  are  going  to  face  a  deficiency,  we 
can  come  here  later  on. 

FREE   TEXTBOOKS    FOR    HIGH    SCHOOLS. 

We  asked  in  our  estimate  for  free  textbooks  for  the  high  schools. 
That  item  was  not  included  by  the  commissioners,  and  tlierefore  it 
does  not  appear  in  the  main  print  of  the  bill.  I  do  not  know  whether 
the  committee  would  l)e  willing  to  take  it  up  at  this  time — I  mean  to 
consider  it — but  I  would  like  simply  to  say  at  this  time  that  the  l)oard 


200  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    .APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

has  given  careful  consideration  to  that  matter,  and  we  believe  that 
ultimately  there  should  ])e  installed  in  high  schools  free  textbooks, 
for  those  pupils  that  go  there.  Tliere  are  a  number  of  instances 
which  have  come  to  knowledge  each  year  of  children  who  are  not 
going  to  high  schools  by  reason  of  the  cost,  which  in  the  four  years 
runs  perhaps  SI 00  or  S150  for  textbooks.  Tlie  number  of  those 
cases  is  not  large  compared  with  the  entire  number  of  pupils  enrolled 
in  the  high  schools,  but  there  is  a  considerable  number.  Tlie  in- 
stalling cost  would  be  about  $47,000.  Of  course  after  you  had  your 
books  installed  tlie  upkeep  would  be  very  much  smaller. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Do  you  propose  to  supply  free  textbooks  to 
all  the  pupils  in  the  high  schools  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  Yes,  sir;  that  is  the  thought. 

Senator  Gallixger.  What  is  the  rule  in  regard  to  that  in  other 
cities,  or  have  j^ou  not  looked  into  it  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  That  is  a  matter  that  seems  to  have  grown,  Senator, 
in  this  waj-,  that  almost  everybody  thought  it  ought  to  be  done  in 
the  gi-ade  schools,  and  practically  everybody  has  now  done  it  in  the 
grade  schools;  and  then  the  tendency  has  been  to  follow  wdth  it  in 
the  high  schools.  I  would  not  say  that  that  was  the  custom  to-day 
hi  the  high  schools.  I  would  say,  however,  that  that  was  the  trend 
of  school  administration  through  the  country. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  do  3"our  books  cost  you  here 
that  you  furnish  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  spent  last  year,  for  the  various  items  wliich  come 
under  this  appropriation,  864,901.  Out  of  that,  for  textbooks  in  the 
arbitrary  sense — simply  textbooks — we  spent  838,738.  For  paper, 
which  is  one  of  the  tilings  that  we  have  to  take  out  of  this,  813,500  was 
spent;  and,  of  course,  that  will  be  very  much  larger.  1  am  now  giving 
the  appropriation  of  1914. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  much  was  it  for  textbooks  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  That  is  all  in  this  one  item  that  we  have  under  discus- 
sion.    We  purchase  textbooks  and  supplies  under  this  item. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  know;  but  I  spoke  of  textbooks. 

Mr.  Blair.  That  alone  is  a  Uttle  less  than  840,000.  Of  course,  all 
suppUes  are  going  up.  Paper  is  very  much  higher,  and  various  other 
things. 

APPARATUS    AND   TECHNICAL   BOOKS    FOR    PHYSICS    DEPARTMENTS. 

On  page  49,  line  10,  we  asked  that  that  might  include  the  purchase 
of  technical  books,  v>'liich  has  been  omitted  from  tmie  to  time.  In 
other  words,  a  technical  book  is  quite  as  necessary,  not  infrequently, 
for  the  maintenance  of  a  department,  as  some  apparatus  may  be,  and 
we  have  no  authority  to  buy  the  technical  books  for  the  equipment  of 
the  physics  departments,  or  for  the  equipment  of  the  chemical  de- 
partments, laboratories  of  chemistry  and  biology.  The  language  is 
the  same.  We  simjdy  asked  that  the  language  be  put  in  there  so 
that  we  might  buy  the  technical  books. 

Senator  G.vllixger.  By  that  is  meant  the  books  that  go  on  the 
shelves  of  the  laboratories  for  the  use  of  the  cIiildrcMi '. 

Mr.  Blair.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallixger.  If  you  had  that  language  included  in  those 
two  items,  would  it  not  be  necessary  to  somewhat  increase  the  appro- 
priation ? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  l'J17.  201 

Mr.  Blair.  No,  sir.  Wo  need  more  money  there,  but  we  are  not 
asking  that.  We  arc  trying  to  get  along  with  what  we  have  tiiere. 
We  will  have  to  have  some  more  money  there.  We  can  not  keep 
this  number  of  laboratories  up  with  the  amount  that  is  allotted. 
To  illustrate  that,  here  is  a  work  that  is  on  some  particular  process 
in  chemistry.  We  can  not  afford  to  tell  the  children  to  buy  it.  It 
may  be  something  giving  some  new  foi'in  that  is  tk>veloped — a  Ger- 
man dyestuff  occui-s  to  me  offliand.  There  might  be  some  authori- 
tative work  written  m  resi)ect  to  dyes  and  colors.  We  can  not  ])uy 
that  to-day  for  the  various  laboratories,  because  we  are  not  allowed 
out  of  this  amount  to  purchase  teclmical  books. 

MATERIAL  AND   LABOR   FOR   SCHOOL   GARDENS. 

I  thought  that  we  got  all  we  asked  for  in  the  preceding  item,  in 
Imes  8  and  9,  but  I  see  we  asked  for  $2,500  for  utensils,  material,  and 
labor  for  establishment  and  maintenance  of  school  gardens.  We 
had  $1,200  this  year.  I  thmk  any  one  of  you  Senators  who  might 
have  been  m  the  city  at  the  close  of  the  school  garden  term,  the  end 
of  August  last  year,  and  who  might  have  gone  around  to  any  that 
might  have  been  convenient  of  the  20  gardens  that  we  had  and  seen 
the  results  of  the  work  of  those  children,  would  have  felt  that  we 
could  to  advantage  be  allowed  that  $2,500  to  be  spent  in  that  direc- 
tion. 

INSTRUCTION   CAMP   FOR   THE   HIGH   SCHOOL   CADETS. 

Now,  I  am  frank  to  say  to  the  committee  that  although  I  thor- 
oughly believed,  and  do  believe,  in  this  item  of  a  high  school  cadet 
camp,  yet  in  view  of  the  lateness  of  the  time  in  the  session  when  this 
appropriation  will  be  available,  and  of  the  fact  that  the  last  of  the 
schools  are  closing  to-day,  I  really  do  not  know  whether  to  press 
that  item  on  the  attention  of  this  committee  at  this  time  or  not. 
I  have  serious  question  in  my  own  mind  as  to  whether,  this  appro- 
priation not  being  available  until  perhaps  the  middle  of  July  or  the 
1st  of  August,  it  would  be  a  wise  expenditure.  If  it  was  left  in  the 
appropriation  biU,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  administration  ])y 
the  board  of  education  would  be  in  connection  with  the  latter  part 
of  the  next  school  year  rather  than  to  attempt  to  have  a  summer 
camp  this  summer. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  is  in  the  line  of  legislation  we  are  en- 
gaged in  just  now.     Do  you  not  think  it  wise  to  leave  it  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  I  was  going  to  say  it  might  be  left  in  if  the  Senate  is 
willing  to  leave  it  in. 

Col.  Kltz.  Let  them  have  a  camp  at  the  end  of  June  next  year. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  could  get  it  in  in  the  school  year.  Of  course  it  was 
originally  planned  for  some  time  in  July  or  August.  It  is  only  a  week 
in  duration,  anyway. 

Commissioner  Newman.  It  is  something  we  want  every  year, 
anyw^ay. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  would  ask  it  next  year;  yes.  It  might  l)e  better  in 
operation  to  have  it  the  last  week  in  June  rather  than  later  in  the 
summer. 

Senator  Gallinger.  If  the  camp  is  not  held,  the  money  can  not  be 
expended. 


202  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

EQUIPPING    SCHOOL    BUILDINGS,    JAXITOR    SERVICE.    ETC..    IN    CONNECTION-    WITH    CIVIC 
AND    SOCIAL-CENTER    WORK. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  can  not  spend  it  for  anything  el?e,  of  course.  At 
the  bottom  of  page  49,  I  think  possiWy  before  the  high-school  cadets' 
camp,  we  had  two  items  which  we  included.     One  was — 

For  the  purcha.se  of  fixtures  and  supplies  for  lighting  and  equipping  school  build- 
ings used  as  ciA-ic  and  social  centers  and  for  the  extension  of  night  schools  and  special 
activities,  .?3,000. 

That  is  for  fixtures  and  .lighting  for  those  four  purposes.  The  next 
item,  of  .?600,  is  for  an  allowance  to  be  made  to  the  janitors  in  con- 
nection with  the  broader  use  of  the  school  plant. 

Senator  Gallixger.  How  many  school  buildmgs  are  now  beiiig 
used,  Mr.  Blair,  for  so-called  civic  purposes  or  social  purposes  { 

Mr.  Blair.  I  have  not  with  me  the  figures  on  that,  Senator,  but 
they  are  being  used  to  a  very  considerable  number  by  citizens'  asso- 
ciations where  they  have  no  halls  available.  Where  there  are  no 
halls,  they  are  meeting  in  the  school  buildings.  The  restriction  as  to 
smoking  makes  the  association  not  inclined  to  use  the  school  buildmg 
unless  it  is  the  onh'  hall  available  in  a  given  neighborhood.  It  is 
being  used  by  the  mothers'  clubs  and  by  the  parent  teachere'  asso- 
ciations, and  I  should  say  that  probably  about  oD  buildings  were  in 
use  of  that  character.  This  is  entirel}'  apart  from  what  some  of  the 
committee  may  possibly  have  in  mind,  the  question  of  forum  use. 
This  is  along  the  lines  that  are  indicated,  parent  teachers'  associa- 
tions, home  school  associations,  citizens'  associations,  literary  clubs 
of  a  character  that  makes  it  proper  for  them  to  use  the  buildmgs 
under  the  present  legislation,  and  organizations  of  that  character. 
I  should  say  that  approximately  50  buildings  are  bemg  used,  and 
when  you  include  the  element  of  the  mothers'  clubs,  perhaps  more 
than  that  are  ])eing  used,  just  occasionally. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Will  not  the  use  of  these  schools  for 
the  purposes  for  which  they  are  now  being  used,  civic  purposes,  in- 
crease the  cost  of  keeping  them  up,  for  repau's,  etc.,  to  some  extent  I 

Mr.  Blair.  I  think  not  perhaps  as  much  as  one  might  think,  at 
least.  It  will  increase  the  lighting  cost  in  some  measure,  shghtly,  in 
a  number  of  instances.  Of  course  it  ^^'ill  amount  to  an  item  when 
you  get  it  all  together,  but  not  a  large  item.  The  heating  cost  \yil\ 
be  increased  in  a  measure  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  you  keep  your 
buildings  warm  until  11  o'clock  at  night  instead  of  until  6  or  5  o'clock 
in  the  evening. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Heat  and  light  will  certainly  increase 
the  expense. 

Mr.  Blair.  In  some  measure,  in  that  way;  yes,  sh. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Is  there  any  limit  to  the  number  of  times  that 
these  school  buildings  can  be  useil  by  these  associations,  clubs,  etc.  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  There  has  been  no  inchmition  to  refuse  any  application 
because  there  has  been  no  recjuest  to  use  them  witli  any  such  fre- 
quency as  to  interfere  with  their  use  for  school  purposes,  and  I  do 
not  know  that  any  association  has  asked  for  them  any  more  fre- 
quently than  for  their  regular  meetings,  which  are  generally  monthlv. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Of  course,  it  goes  without  saying  that  in 
addition  to  the  increased  cost  of  heating  and  lighting  there  will  be 
some  wear  and  tear  on  the  school  buildings  if  they  are  open  for  pur- 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  203 

poses  of  this  kind,  which  was  not  in  contoniplation  when  they  wore 
constructed. 

Mr.  Blair.  The  ])uildings  rccontly  planned,  you  know,  have 
assembly  halls,  all  of  them,  of  course,  for  that  specific  purpose. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  understand  that. 

Mr.  Blair.  In  buildings  where  we  have  no  assembly  halls  that  can 
be  used  for  this  purpose,  they  are  generally  using  the  kindergarten 
rooms  for  that  purpose.  That  involves  the  moving  out  of  tlie  furni- 
ture by  the  janitor  in  the  afternoon  when  the  schools  close,  and  put- 
ting ill  chaii-s,  and  then  moving  the  furniture  back  and  fixing  the 
rooms  after  the  meeting  is  over,  so  that  they  shall  be  ready  for  school 
use  the  next  morning. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Who  has  supervision  of  these  gatherings^ 

Ml'.  Blair.  Always,  I  might  say,  there  is  someone  connected  with 
the  school  system  connected  with  the  organizations.  There  might 
be  an  exception  in  the  case  of  the  citizens'  associations,  but  there  the 
janitor  is  always  present,  and  it  is  the  mere  question  of  the  use  of 
a  room  in  that  building  in  the  presence  of  the  janitor. 

Senator  Gallinger.  if  these  two  estimated  items  that  you  have 
called  attention  to  are  not  allowed,  where  would  you  get  your  money 
for  this  purpose  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  If  those  were  not  allowed,  we  would  do  a  little  bit  of  it, 
a  very  limited  amount  of  it.  We  woidd  do  nothing  of  the  second 
item,  because  we  would  have  no  authority  to;  that  is,  as  to  com- 
pensation of  janitors. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Mr.  Blair.  We  would  urge  on  the  associations,  possibly,  the  volun- 
tary payment  by  the  associations  to  the  janitors  for  that  service. 
The  other,  where  it  was  justified  by  the  character  of  the  use,  would 
be  paid  for  as  we  could  do  it,  perhaps  out  of  repairs  or  the  contingent 
fund. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  would  squeeze  a  little  money  out  some- 
where ( 

Mr.  Blair.  Yes.  A  great  many  of  these  buildings  have  no  lights, 
whatever.  They  were  built  without  any  lighting  facilities.  Some- 
times the  piping  is  in  there,  but  there  never  have  been  any  fixtures 
purchased.  This  does  not  contemplate  the  equipment  of  buildings 
except  to  furnish  the  things  that  would  ordinarily  have  been  put  in 
in  the  original  instance. 

MEDICAL    inspectors AGAIN. 

DENTAL   CLINICS. 

There  is  one  item  perhaps  I  shuuld  have  taken  up,  which  I  intended 
to  take  up  at  the  time  we  were  discussing  the  medical  ins]iection  item. 
There  has  been  a  very  strong  movement,  growing  out  of  the  ai)point- 
meiit  of  a  dental  inspector,  for  a  dental  clinic  in  the  schools.  I  am 
not  a  doctor,  but  I  gather  from  what  the  doctors  tell  me  that  the 
question  of  care  and  condition  of  the  teeth  is  coming  to  have  an 
importance,  in  connection  with  the  personal  physical  fitness  of  the 
child,  that  perhaps  was  not  recognized  formerly. 

We  do  not  want  to  go  into  that  so  much,  hut  we  (\o  i'lnd  from  the 
dental  inspection  that  has  been  permitted  under  the  clause  which 


204  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

requires  the  appointment  of  dental  inspectors  among  our  medical 
inspectors,  that  a  bad  condition,  a  poor  condition,  in  a  great  many 
instances,  of  the  children,  does  exist.  The  dentists  were  enough  in 
earnest  about  this  matter  so  that  they  have  really  been  conducting 
a  free  clinic  for  a  year  or  two,  taking  the  children  that  were  discovered 
in  the  schools,  and  treating  tlieni,  to  see  what  the  situation  was. 
They  have  found  upon  examination  that  in  about  17  States,  and  more 
than  32  cities  in  those  17  States,  there  are  maintained  by  the  nmnici- 
paUty  free  chnics  for  children.  They  have  asked  us  to  submit,  and 
the  board  has  favorably  considered,  an  item  of  85,000  for  the  estab- 
ishment  of  dental  clinics  in  connection  with  the  schools. 

I  personally  believe  that  it  is  a  valuable  addition  to  the  schools 
and  a  valuable  and  necessary  thing  for  our  system.  If  we  do  not 
get  it  this  year,  I  have  not  any  cjuestion  but  what  we  will  be  asking 
for  it  until  it  is  given  to  us,  because  I  believe  from  the  work  of  the 
dental  inspectors  the  necessity  and  usefuhiess  of  that  has  reasonabl}^ 
been  demonstrated.  It  is  not  a  large  item,  and  as  we  have  drawn 
it  we  would  ask  for  the  establishment  of  a  free  dental  clinic  in  the 
public  schools  of  the  District  of  Columbia  under  the  direction  of  the 
board  of  education,  the  equipment  of  two  offices,  materials,  and  sal- 
ary of  the  operators,  etc.,  $5,000. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Do  you  propose  to  establish  one  clinic  or 
more  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  That  is  for  two  clinics,  one  for  the  white  schools  and 
one  for  the  colored  schools.  That  is  one  of  the  answers  we  make 
when  we  are  charged  \xiih  extravagance  in  our  system,  that  we  can 
hardly  do  anything  unless  we  do  it  in  that  way. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Tiiose  clinics  you  would  have  in  th'^  school 
buildings  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  I  do  not  think  we  would  have  to  hire  any  quarters. 
I  assume  that  would  work  out  to  taking  a  building  well  located  where 
we  could  find  a  room,  and  using  that  room  for  the  purposes  of  the 
dental  clinic,  taking  care  of  as  many  children  as  we  could. 

NEW    EASTERN    HIGH    SCHOOL. 

We  ask  for  an  initial  appropriation  for  the  new  Eastern  High 
School  of  S200,000.  That  is  on  page  50.  The  total  cost  is  not  to 
exceed  $750,000.  I  just  do  not  want  to  be  precluded  in  the  future 
by  what  action  the  House  has  taken.  I  think  probably  if  the  com- 
mittee wishes  to  leave  that  item  as  it  has  come  to  us,  b}-  the  time  the 
next  appropriation  bill  will  be  available  we  will  probably  be  ready 
to  build,  and  not  before  that,  so  that  the  unexpended  balance  will 
be  all  that  we  will  need.  That  is  correct,  is  it  not,  in  your  judgment, 
Col.  Kutz  ? 

Col.  KuTz.  The  unexpended  balance  will  be  all  we  can  economically 
expend  between  now  and  the  4tli  of  March,  1917.  It  will  take  that 
time  to  prepare  the  detailed  plans  and  specifications  and  to  get  ■read}'. 

Commissioner  Newman.  This  has  authorized  us  to  make  the  con- 
tract. 

Col.  Ku'.'Z.  We  can  make  the  contract  now. 

Mr.  Blair.  Yes.  I  do  not  thhik  there  is  any  occasion  to  change 
that. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  205 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  soe  you  have  suggested  as  new  language  the 
words  "preparation  of  plans."  Have  you  not  full  authority  to  have 
plans  prepared  for  that  huilding  ? 

Col.  KuTZ.  I  think  authority  for  the  construction  of  the  huilding 
would  carry  with  it  the  authority  to  make  the  plans. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  should  suppose  so. 

Mr.  Blair.  But  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  that  suggestion  has 
come  from  the  auditor.  Senator. 

Senator  Gallixger.  There  can  be  no  harm  in  putting  it  in. 

Mr.  Blair.  And  there  would  be  a  little  difficulty  along  that  line. 
I  am  very  sorry  to  trouble  the  committee,  but  for  some  reason  which 
I  have  not  been  able  to  understand  our  estimates  for  buildings,  which 
we  tried  to  make  in  a  very  conservative  manner,  were,  with  the  ex- 


ception of  four  instances,  I  believe,  excluded  by  the  House. 

BUILDINGS    AND    GROUNDS. 

RHODE   ISLAND   AVENUE    SCHOOL. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Will  you  kindly  suspend  a  moment,  that  I 
may  call  attention  to  an  item  along  that  line  that  was  handed  to  me 
as  I  came  into  the  committee  room,  together  with  a  letter  from  Sen- 
ator Works,  of  California,  introducing  the  gentleman  who  gave  me 
this  material — a  Mr.  Nigh?  It  is  in  relation  to  a  school  site  in 
Brookland,  and  there  seems  to  be  a  very  sharp,  and  I  should  judge 
serious,  controversy  concerning  that  matter.  I  suppose  you  have 
looked  into  that,  have  you,  Mr.  Blair  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  met  that  at  the  other  end  of  the  Capitol,  and  pre- 
sented our  views  on  that  question,  and  although  we  received  no 
appropriation  for  the  school  that  we  asked  for — it  is  the  Rhode  Island 
Avenue  school  that  is  involved — yet  I  think  the  committee  was  sat- 
isfied that  when  the  time  came  for  them  to  build  a  school  out  there 
we  had  done  well. 

Senator  Gallixger.  In  Mr.  Nigh's  statement  the  first  paragraph 
is  as  follows : 

Two  years  ago  Congress  appropriated  $12,000  for  the  purchase  of  a  school  site  in 
Woodridge.  Ms.  S.  M.  Ely,  supervising  principal  of  the  fifth  division,  acting  with 
authority  of  the  school  board,  began  taking  steps  to  secure  a  site  just  north  of  Rhode 
Island  Avenue,  in  Woodridge,  and,  in  accordance  with  provisions  of  the  law,  pro- 
ceedings were  begun  to  acquire  the  site  by  condemnation.  Suddenly,  and  so  myste- 
riously as  to  be  \vithout  apparent  cause  or  reason,  the  project  was  abandoned  and  a 
new  site  in  Brookland  was  selected  at  Eighteenth  and  Newton  Streets,  more  than  a 
mile  remote  from  where  intended  in  the  first  action. 

Commissioner  Newman.  Senator,  I  think  possibly  as  good  an  illus- 
tration of  the  unrehability  of  this  statement  as  you  need  is  that  one 
statement  where  it  says,  "more  than  a  mile  remote  from  where 
intended,  etc.     Do  you  recall,  Col.  Kutz,  the  exact  distance? 

Col.  Kutz.  It  is  stated  in  the  House  hearings.  It  is  less  than 
half  a  mile,  I  tliink. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  simply  wanted  to  put  in  the  record  the  fact 
that  I  had  called  attention  to  tliis  matter.  I  know  nothing  person- 
ally about  it,  and  doubtless  the  committee  will  look  into  it. 

Commissioner  Newman.  It  was  very  fully  covered  in  the  House 
hearings.  Everything  that  could  be  raised  here  was  covered  in  the 
House  hearings. 


20C  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPPJATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Mr.  Blair.  I  would  rather  not  go  into  that  again,  and  if  I  may, 
I  will  simply  give  the  pages  of  the  House  hearings  where  it  was  dis- 
cussed. It  hegins  at  the  bottom  of  page  308  of  the  House  hearings 
and  it  extends  to  page  515.  Col.  Kutz  was  asked  the  direct  question, 
and  as  I  remember  it  now,  he  measured  the  distance  on  a  scaled  map 
we  had  there,  and  the  exact  distance  between  the  two  tracts  was 
found  to  be  3,000  feet,  a  little  over  a  half  a  mile.  Tlie  entire  matter 
is  set  out  there.  That  was  a  very  bitter  neighborhood  quarrel,  and 
instead  of  purchasing  a  site  of  quite  small  dimensions  vnthin  a  stone's 
throw  of  the  District  boundaiy,  which  might  have  been  very  con- 
venient to  the  Maryland  citizens  living  just  across  the  District  line, 
we  purchased  a  site  a  little  over  a  half  mile  from  the  District  line,  a 
site  that  runs  from  Eighteenth  to  Twentieth  ^Streets,  on  Newton 
Street,  and  which  gave  us  a  large,  fine  site  for  what  we  hope  will  be 
ultimately  one  of  the  model  suburban  schools  in  this  country,  where 
people  can  be  taken  to  see  what  can  be  done  for  suburban  schools 
immediately  adjacent  to  large  cities.  I  do  not  think  there  can  be 
anything  added  to  what  was  said  before  the  House  committee,  and 
if  the  matter  should  become  one  of  question  for  the  committee,  I 
should  be  very  glad  to  be  called  back  again,  if  I  might  be,  in  order 
to  take  the  matter  up. 

PURCHASE    OF  ADDITIONAL   GROUND   ADJACENT  TO   SCHOOL   SITES. 

There  is  hardly  an  item  in  our  submitted  estimates,  which  4ire 
found  on  page  51,  that  is  not  an  item  of  importance  and  essential  con- 
sequence to  the  school  sj^stem.  All  those  items  under  810,000,  to 
which  alone  I  now  refer,  are  minor  in  character,  and  they  are  meant 
to  purchase  odd  parcels  of  land  which  ought  to  have  been  included 
in  the  original  sites  at  the  time  they  were  purchased,  which  are 
needed  now  to  round  out  school  sites  and  furnish  play  grounds  for 
schools  which  have  been  built  upon  the  streets.  I  do  not  think  there 
is  one  of  them  but  what  has  been  a  matter  of  careful  inspection  by 
both  the  commissioners  and  the  board  of  education,  and  there  is  no 
overvaluation,  in  my  judgment,  and  I  have  heard  no  suggestion  of 
overvaluation  in  regard  to  any  of  those  items.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  S6,000  item  for  the  purchase  of  additional  ground  adjoining  the 
Tyler  School.  That  is  a  school  on  Eleventh  Street  SE.,  which  fronts 
on  the  street  line.  There  is  not  as  much  open  space  around  it,  if  I 
remember  it  correctly,  as  there  would  be  area  in  this  committee-room 
floor.  It  fronts  on  a  street  with  cob})le-stoned  pavement.  It  fronts 
on  a  street  which  has  two  tracks  of  the  Anacostia  car  line  running 
down  it.  It  is  an  eight-room  building,  with  an  enrollment  of  ap- 
approximately  300  children,  and  they  have  not  an  area  the  space  of 
this  room  for  play  space,  outside  of  the  cobble-stoned  street. 

The  otlier  items  are  many  of  them  of  a  similar  character  and  to 
serve  a  similar  purpose. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  Is  it  not  true,  in  many  of  the  instances,  that 
the  land  unless  acquired  now  will  be  used  for  some  other  purpose? 

Mr.  Blair.  In  several  of  those  instances  the  land  is  gohig  to  be 
used  for  some  other  purpose,  and  its  purchase  would  not  be  economical 
in  the  future  certainly.  It  might  be  done,  but  it  would  not  be 
economical.  At  this  time  they  are  small  items  which  can  be  ex- 
pended to  decided  advantage. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  207 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  portion  of  this  $60,000  would 
be  for  additional  ground  and  what  portion  for  the  erection  of  buildinoj? 

Mr.  Blair.  I  beg  your  pardon,  Senator.  I  was  speaking  of  the 
small  items,  those  under  SI 0,000. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marylantl.  You  spoke  of  the  S60,000  item  here 
as  for  additional  ground  adjoining  schools,  and  for  the  erection  of  a 
four-room  building,  hicluding  an  assembly  hall. 

Mr.  Blair.  No;  I  beg  your  pardon;  that  was  the  $6,000  item,  the 
next  item  near  the  last.  I  had  not  taken  up  the  larger  item.  I. 
simply  took  up  the  Tyler  School  as  a  general  illustration  of  the 
smaller  items. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  thought  you  took  up  the  $60,000? 

Mr.  Blair.  No,  sir;  I  was  going  to  take  up  that  largci'  item  lat<^r. 

Now,  take  the  itom  of  $22  000  near  the  bottom  of  the  list  on  page 
51.  two-thirds  of  the  way  down: 

For  the  ]:)vtrchas?  of  additional  groiiiuls  north  of  the  site  of  the  16- room  Imilding  west 
of  Soldiers  Home  Grounds,  $22,000. 

That  is  the  only  land  that  is  available  out  there  for  a  playground 
for  that  new  Park  View  School.  We  can  get  it  now.  The  con- 
tractors have  held  up  on  the  building  construction  which  they  are 
contemplating  there.  An  investigation  of  the  price  by  both  the  com- 
missioners and  the  board  of  education  has  led  us  to  the  belief  that 
that  is  not  in  any  way  a  large  price.  It  is  a  small  price  to  pay  for 
that  land.  If  we  do  not  buy  it  then  we  are  all  in  the  position  of  hav- 
ing put  a  16-room  building  out  there  in  a  developing  neighborhood, 
that  has  cost  approximately  $135,000.  and  after  we  have  finished  it 
we  have  left  those  children  without  a  foot  of  play  space.  Of  course, 
they  have  space  there  to-day  because  that  is  a  country  neighborhood, 
in  a  way. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  They  have  that  space  only  by  ])er- 
mission  of  the  owners.     They  are  playing  on  private  property  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  Yes;  and  of  course  the  streets  are  not  filled  with  traffic 
at  this  time,  and  you  can  play  out  in  the  roadway  in  safety.  But  in 
10  years,  or  certainly  inside  of  15  years,  you  will  be  exactly  in  the  same 
situation  as  in  regard  to  these  other  schools  in  the  city,  where  you 
failed  to  make  any  provision  for  playgrounds  when  you  bought 
your  original  sites.  Everybody  recognizes  now  that  those  instances 
were  mistakes;  and  here  is  this  fine  school  in  this  splendid  neighbor- 
hood, on  which  you  have  graciously  expended  more  than  $135,000 
for  construction  and  equipment,  and  if  we  can  not  get  this  appropria- 
tion at  this  tmie  it  will  take  three  or  four  times  that  amount  to  get 
any  play  space  in  the  future;  and  if  you  do  not  get  it  for  them,  you  will 
put  those  children  in  the  same  condition  as  those  in  the  schools  that 
are  right  on  the  street  in  a  part  of  the  city  that  is  built  up  with  a 
street-car  line  in  front  of  them  with  a  brick  pavement  in  front  at 
the  present  time;  so  that  it  seems  to  us  in  view  of  that  particular 
situation,  and  that  the  laiul  has  practically  been  held  for  upwards 
of  two  years  for  us  now,  that  that  is  an  item  which  is  perhaps  entitled 
to  first  consideration  among  those  sites. 

Commissioner  Newm.vx.  May  I  interrupt  just  a  moment?  1  hap- 
pen to  have  personal  information  about  that  condition.  The  builder 
who  is  holding  off,  refraining  from  building  on  this  half  square,  giving 
us  the  opportunity  to  get  it,  has  in  the  meantime  built  25  or  30  houses 
across  the  street  half  a  block  away,  up  the  street  that  the  school  is  on, 


208  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION^    BILL,  1917. 

and  is  engaged  in  the  building  up  of  a  rery  good  class  of  houses  in  the 
development  of  that  particular  neighborhood,  and  it  is  obvious  that 
he  has  held  off  on  account  of  the  desire  to  give  us  an  opportunity  to 
get  that,  because  he  has  built  on  the  other  property  of  which  he  "had 
control  in  the  same  neighborhood;  and  he  says  now  that  this  is  the 
last  chance  that  he  will  give. 

I  was  surprised  to  fmd  how  active  the  building  development  was  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Soldiers'  Home.  It  is  astonishing.  It  is  budding 
up  very  rapidly. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  have  noticed  that  recently. 

Mr.  Blair.  In  connection  with  these  small  items  I  have  been 
speaking  of,  Senator,  we  prepared  and  filed  at  the  request  of  the 
House  committee  the  number  of  sc|uare  feet  in  each  of  there  sites,  and 
the  value  of  the  land,  and  of  the  improvements,  giving  the  total 
value  of  the  various  items,  so  that  we  wiU  simply  refer  you  to  that,  at 
page  318  of  the  House  hearings,  or  file  a  copy  with  the  committee. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  might  give  us  the  reference. 

Mr.  Blair.  It  is  page  318  of  the  House  hearings. 

Senator  Curtis.  Are  there  any  of  those  buildings  which,  because  of 
changed  conditions,  should  be  abandoned  and  new  sites  selected  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  You  mean  in  this  list  where  we  are  asking  for  these  small 
appropriations  ? 

Senator  Curtis.  Yes. 

Mr.  Blair.  I  think  not. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  think  they  are  all  well  located;  and  it  would 
be  advisable  to  buy  land  adjacent  rather  than  to  let  them  go  and 
change  the  location  later  on  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  We  have  a  plant  which  has  cost,  with  the  land,  $50,000; 
an  old  building 

Senator  Curtis.  Tliey  are  all  eight-room  buildings,  are  the}^  not  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  They  are  all  8-room  buildings — except  some  that  are 
larger,  16-room  buildings,  there — that  are  contemplated. 

That  brings  me  to  the  other  items  in  the  schedule.  The  first  item 
is  the  §60,000  of  which  the  chairman  spoke  a  moment  ago.  The 
Gage  School  is  in  a  crowded  neighborhood  and  in  a  crowded  condition. 
Immediately  to  the  north  of  it  there  is  available  at  the  present  time  a 
considerable  amount  of  ground,  and  there  is  need,  by  reason  of  the 
crowded  condition  in  the  school,  of  an  addition.  We  ought  to  have, 
proi'ably,  at  the  present  time,  the  four-room  addition  that  we  are 
asking  /or  now.  The  actual  state  of  the  school  to-day  is,  during  the 
present  school  year,  that  we  have  been  teaching  16  classes  in  12  rooms. 
It  is  a  12-room  building,  and  we  have  been  teaching  16  classes  in  those 
rooms. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Where  is  the  Gage  School  located  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  On  Second  Street  NW.,  north  of  Florida  Avenue. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  see  by  the  table  that  land  is  offered  there  at 
about  20  cents  a  foot'^ 

Mr.  Blair.   Yes,  approximately  that;  it  is  not  25  cents  a  foot. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Fifteen  thousand  square  feet. 

Mr.  Blair.  That  is  the  assessed  value  of  the  land.  We  probably 
shall  have  to  pay  a  little  more  than  that. 

wSenator  Gallixger.  Oh,  yes;  undoubtedly. 

Mr.  Blair.  But  that  is  the  assessment  at  the  present  time.  It  is 
available  land  and  is  unimproved,  and  it  is  in  a  neighborhood  where 
it  can  not  be  expected  to  be  much  longer  unimproved. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOriUATlOX    BILL,  1917.  209 

Senator  Gallixgeil  Hi^s  tlioiv  hccu  n  prico  sot  upon  it? 

Mr.  Blair.  I  do  not  laiow.  You  hiwc  not  hvx\  nuy  nctunl  nogo- 
tisitioiis  for  its  purclir.sc,  Colonol  ? 

Col.  KiTZ.  No. 

Mv.  Blair.  Wo  luivo  ostinu'.tod  th:'t  n  fcnir-rocnu  addition  thoro, 
togothor  with  tlio  land,  will  oonio  Avitliin  tlio  SGO.OOO  wo  have  asked. 

We  are  asking  for  the  iMHH'tion  of  an  assembly  hall  in  connection 
with  that  addition.  We  will  then  have  a  16-rooni  building  at  that 
point. 

Sonitor  Gallixger.  Those  various  items  for  the  ]:>urchase  of  addi- 
tionrJ  ground,  you  have  looked  into  carefidly  and  feel  that  they 
could  wisely  be  made,  and  that  there  is  an  actual  necessity  in  most 
cases,  if  not  hi  every  case  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  There  is  not  any  c{uestion  about  every  itcmi  being 
necessary  to  coin])leto  those  sites  and  to  give  what  jdayground  we 
Clin  for  those  schools. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  have  personal  knowledge^  th:it  hi  some 
instances  it  is  an  extreme  necessity.  Now,  toll  us  about  the  larger 
items. 

Mr.  Blair.  In  the  item  of  the  Gage  School  the  assessed  value  of 
the  land  there  would  indicate  an  approximate  cost  of  SO, 000  to 
$7,000,  but  that  is  a  neighborhood  where  land  is  probably  worth 
more  than  the  assessment  indicates.  This  happens  to  be  a  field 
growing  up  in  gnrss.  The  whole  section  there  was  a  subdivided 
ftirm,  and  this  h-ip])ens  to  ht've  been,  perhaps,  a  man's  front  yard, 
that  lirs  never  l)een  im]>roved  or  cht.nged,  and  is  just  level  land 
lymg  there — a  grass  ])lot. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  that  property  enhancmg  in  value, 
there  i 

Mr.  Blair.  It  is  worth  more  than  the  assessment,  I  should  think, 
and  it  may  cost  us  §10,000  or  S12,000  to  get  it.  The  commissioners 
have  Slid  to  us  that  it  wiU  cosi  about  $48,000  to  build  that  l)uilding 
with  the  assembly  hall. 

Senator  Gallixger.  lor  the  Gage  School,  vou  say  it  may  cost 
$10,000  or  S12,000? 

Mr.  Blair.  The  assessment  mdicates  $0,000. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  assessment  mdicates  $4,000. 

Mr.  Blair.  Then  you  add  about  one-third  to  that  and  it  will  make 
about  $0,000. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes. 

RHODE    ISLAND    SCHOOL — AGAIX. 

Mr.  Blair.  The  next  item  is  the  item  that  has  already  been 
referred  to,  the  land  in  Woodridge,  and  the  condition  out  there  is 
such  as  to  make  that  an  urgent  item.  I  will  put  into  the  record,  if 
I  may,  a  canvass  which  has  recently  been  made  by  the  Citizens' 
Association  out  there  showing  the  condition  there,  from  an  accurate 
and  careful  canvass  in  December,  1915,  respecting  school  children 
in  that  neighborhood,  and  it  shows  that  there  were  at  that  time  of 
school  children  of  primary  school  age,  in  that  neighborhood,  622. 
With  the  best  progress  we  are  likely  to  make,  it  takes  a  year  and  a 
half  to  two  years  to  get  a  building  after  it  is  authorized.  It  is  esti- 
mated from  a  canvass  that  there  are  295  children  who  will  Ix'  ready 
45737—16 14 


210  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

for  school  by  the  time  that  buiklmg  is  completed — who  in  the  near 
future  will  be  of  primary  school  age.  That  is  a  locality  immediately 
adjacent  to  Maryland,  and  there  are  43  Maryland  children  to  be  taken 
care  of  at  the  present  time,  and  there  are  approximately  100  more 
children  in  that  locahty  who  will  be  ready  by  the  time  the  school 
building  is  ready.  There  were  at  the  time  of  the  estimate  60  buildings 
in  process  of  construction.  That  is  a  family  neighborhood,  and  the}* 
have  allowed  two  children  for  each  of  those  buildings  after  they  are 
tinished.  The  owners  there  are  young  men,  25  to  40  years  old, 
drawing  from  SI, 200  to  S3, 000  a  year  in  Government  departments. 
That  is  a  fine  neighborhood,  growing  up  in  splendid  condition,  s(»  that 
there  are  estimated  1,183  children  vvho  will  be  ready  for  those  build- 
ings within  the  time  in  which  we  couhl  get  them  according  to  the 
ordinary  process  of  construction.  There  has  also  been  taken  up  and 
started  the  construction  of  additional  houses.  There  were  50  or  60 
unoccupied  houses  at  the  time  of  the  census  arid  there  are  50  more 
in  process  of  construction,  and  that  adds  another  100  to  the  school 
population  out  there,  making  1,283  children. 

For  taking  care  of  that  approyimate  num.bor  of  children  witliin  the 
next  two  years  v/e  liavc  thr  Langdon  School;  which  is  a  10-room 
building,  but  about  a  mile  from  this  proposed  site  and  do^^^l  a  long 
hill  and  up  th.e  other  side  of  a  }cng  Mil.  -o  that  it  is  not  readily  acces- 
sible to  this  neighborhood.  We  have  that  10-room  building,  which 
would  take  care  cf  four  or  five  hundred  ci  these  cliildren,  leaving 
around  800  or  900  children  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  thne  this  build- 
ing can  be  reasonably  expected  to  be  finished.  We  want  to  start  a 
16-room  biilding  tlier(>  which  v:ill  involve  an  a5«em])ly  liall  and  a 
present  construction  of  8  rooms  only,  but  v/e  know  that  it  is  not 
economy  and.  it  is  not»eflicient  building  to  put  up  that  8  rooms  now 
and  tJie  balance  of  that  later  on.  You  oug.ht  to  put  up  your  16- 
room  buiklmg  at  this  tmie  and  finish  off  the  8  rooms  that  you  expect 
to  use,  and  we  have  asked,  after  consultation  v.^ith  the  engineer 
rommissi(  her,  ior  S90,000  for  tiiat  item.  We  have  the  opportunity, 
in  my  jndgment,  for  as  fine  a  suburban  school  as  there  is,  out  there, 
and  not  to  be  extravagant;  I  mean  to  use  it  in  the  way  modern  de- 
velopment is  using  its  sitr^s  and  scJiools.  They  have  everything  out 
there.  They  are  entluisiastic  as  a  neighborhood;  they  iiave  their 
annual  front-yard  and  garden  contests,  and  it  is  a  community  which 
has  developed  among  well-edurated  people  wlio  are  anxious  to  give 
their  children  all  the  benefits  of  education  and  are  in  a  position  so 
that  they  can  afT(u-d  to. 

The  iK^xt  item  is  an  estimate  of  S40,000  for  the  purchase  of  a  site 
for  th(^  third  divsion,  between  Tenth  and  Thirteenth  Streets,  and 
as  near  .Spring  Road  as  we  can  get  for  the  money.  Tiiat  is  the  region 
north  of  Mount  Pleasant  and  w.'storly  from  the  Park  View  region, 
which  We  have  taken  care  of  by  their  new  ])uilding  out  there.  It  is 
rapidly  growing  and  rapidly  d(>veloping.  We  have  been  taking  care 
of  those  cJiihh'cn  at  the  eJoimson-Powell  center,  and  at  the  Prtworth 
schools;  but  both  of  those  schools,  or  both  of  those  groups,  are  over- 
crowded at  tlie  pres(>nt  time.  When  we  get  our  Powell  addition 
finished  and  occupied,  as  it  is  hoped  to  do  next  year;  it  is  filled  now, 
practically. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  many  sites  are  available  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  It  will  be  difficult  to  find  a  site  iu  this  neighborhood. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  211 

Senator  Smith  of  MtirvLuul.  No,  but  I  mean  in  this  ncighborliood 
where  you  propose  to  buy  this  propi>rty;  how  many  sit,  s  are  there? 

Mr.  Blair.  V^e  do  not  know,  to  be  frank  about  it.  We  simply  feel 
that  we  ought  to  have  from  20,000  to  25,000  square  feet  of  ground  out 
there,  and  that  that  is  a  neighborhood  in  which  the  values  are  going  up 
rather  than  going  down,  and  it  is  econ.omical  to  get  our  site  just  as 
soon  as  we  can. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  time  has  arrived  when  it  is 
necessary  to  have  a  school  hi  that  neighborhood,  and  you  feel  also 
that  the  property  is  enhancing  in  value,  and  it  is  better  to  acquire 
the  property  at  once? 

Mr.  Blair.  That  is  our  feeling  about  it.  We  made  the  estimate 
for  it  two  or  three  years  ago,  but  other  matters  pressed  in  which  just 
had  to  be  taken  care  of,  and  we  have  been  temporizirig  and  getting 
along  as  best  we  could,  and  the  conditions  are  crowdhig  there  all  the 
time.  We  are  conscious  of  it,  but  we  have  not  been  able  to  ask  for 
the  site  because  of  the  large  appropriations  that  the  two  big  high- 
school  problems  were  carrying,  the  Central  High  School  and  the 
M  Street ;  also  because  of  the  amount  that  was  tied  up  in  the  Park 
Yiev%-  School. 

The  iiext  item  is  to  take  up  the  ground  immediately  in  the  rear  of 
the  Armstrong  Manual  Training  School.  It  is  practically  unoccupied. 
It  is  not  of  great  value,  ard  yet  it  v.'ould  round  out  that  site  and  make 
available  iav.d  for  buildings  which  vnii  be  needed  within  a  reasonable 
time.  It  would  make  available  the  land  on  which  to  place  buildings 
for  sewing  and  cooking  schools,  and  some  manual  training  work  that 
the  school  itself  ought  to  be  doing  but  is  not  now  doing  l:)ecause  it 
has  not  the  room  iii  v.hich  to  do  the  work. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Have  3*ou  the  estimate  of  the  cost  of 
that  ?     I  see  you  ask  here  for'S21,o09. 

Ml-.  Blair.  That  is  based  on  the  assessed  value,  I  think,  Senator. 
I  believe  mc  can  purchase  that  land  v.ithin  that  figure.  It  is  in  the 
rear  of  the  school  building,  but  it  fronts  on  a  street;  but  the  school 
building  itself  makes  it  reasonably  certain  that  there  will  not  Be  con- 
struction there,  and  I  think  we  can  get  it  for  that  price,  and  the  land 
is  so  located  that  if  we  should  put  cooking  schools  there  and  improve- 
ments of  that  character — use  part  of  the  land  for  that — there  can  be 
joint  use  of  the  proposed  neu'  building  by  the  colored  academic  high 
school  and  the  Armstrong  School  itself.  In  other  words,  the  rear  of 
the  academic  high  school  comes  almost  up  to  this  land,  or  just  across 
the  street  from  it,  and  it  would  serve  a  double  purpose  in  that  way, 
and  yet  serve  both  of  those  schools  efficiently. 

Now,  we  need  very  much  to  establish  another  manual  training 
center.  They  are  using  rented  quarters,  as  I  understand  it,  at 
present,  and  we  have  asked  for  the  purchase  of  a  site  for  an  eight- 
room  manual  training  school  center  in  the  eleventh  division.  That 
is  the  division,  taking  the  situation  in  the  colored  schools  all  together, 
that  is  the  best  location  for  a  manual  training  center  school  to  serve 
the  colored  graded  schools,  chiefly  of  the  eleventh  division,  and  the 
location  would  be  most  efficient  of  a  school  erected  within  that 
division  for  those  purposes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  ^Vliy  do  you  use  the  word  "center"  in  place 
of  the  word  ''school"  in  that  place? 


212  DISTRICT    OF    COLr:\[BIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Mr.  Blair.  Because  that  is  where  the  grade  pupils  all  go.  They 
call  them  centers,  where  they  send  the  chikh-en  of  a  division  for 
manual  training  work.  It  is  manual  training  work  entirely  that  is 
done  on  the  premises. 

T  think  I  hare  spoken  of  all  the  other  items  except  the  last  one. 
which  is  S35.000  for  a  site  for  a  new  16-rooin  building  in  the  seventh 
division.  We  tried  three  or  four  years  ago  to  get  an  appropriation 
for  additional  land  adjacent  to  the  Maury  School,  and  our  persuasive 
powers  were  not  convincing  enough  to  get  the  item,  so  that  the  item 
received  consideration,  until  after  the  land  all  had  been  improved. 
The  result  is  that  we  were  obliged  to  permit  to  revert  to  the  Treasury 
at  the  end  of  last  year  an  appropriation  for  additional  land  adjacent 
to  the  Maury  School  because  of  the  character  of  the  improvement 
which  had  since  then  been  put  on  the  land  we  had  hoped  to  get, 
which  had  increased  the  price  so  much  that  it  did  not  seem  wise  to 
ask  for  the  money  to  buy  the  land  with  the  improvements  on  it, 
because  there  was  a  better  point  in  that  division  at  which  to  put  a 
new  school,  so  that  we  are  now  asking  for  an  appropriation  of  S35.000 
to  cover  the  cost  of  a  site  for  the  seventh  division. 

Senator  Gallixger.  What  use  are  you  going  to  put  the  old  Eastern 
High  School  to  when  it  is  vacated  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  If  I  was  asked  to  respond  to  that  question  to-day  I 
should  teU  you  it  looked  to  me  as  though  we  would  have  use  for  it 
in  connection  with  the  grade  centers,  perhaps  in  connection  with  the 
vocational  school  work;  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  that  would 
be  the  extent  of  the  use  of  the  building  at  the  present  time.  But  we 
find  conchtions  changing,  sometimes,  very  rapidly. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  was  wondering  whether  if  that  was  made 
available  for  grade  schools,  the  necessity  for  this  new  building  which 
you  have  estimated  for  might  be  so  great  ? 

Mr.  Blair.  This  goes  to  another  direction.  It  goes  out  east  and 
northeast  of  Lincoln  Park.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  northern 
division,  really,  and  toward  the  eastern  di\4sion  of  that  subch^^sion 
of  the  schools,  and  with  the  growth,  i^s  we  see  it,  of  tlie  school  popu- 
lation. But  while  we  need  the  school  to-day,  and  we  have  not  even 
the  site  yet,  all  the  schools  there  arc  crowded,  and  it  is  to  take  off  the 
pressure  between  the  sixth  and  seventh  divisions  which  lie  adjacent 
to  each  other  there  now. 

In  our  estimates  we  asked  for  860,000  to  purchase  additional  ground 
and  provide  a  site  necessary  for  an  addition  to  the  Blair  School.  I 
would  like  to  say  that  that  is  not  personal;  that  that  is  Montgomery 
Blair,  so  that  there  is  no  personal  seeking  in  that  matter.  Since  then 
we  have  been  looking  over  the  situation,  and  inasmucli  as  that  in- 
volves the  ])urchase  of  improved  property,  the  only  available  place 
in  that  division,  the  sixth  division,  to  put  a  central  school — and 
ultimately  we  will  have  to  put  it  there,  but  inasmuch  as  it  involves 
the  purchase  of  improved  property  which  is  not  modern — it  is  ex- 
tremely likely  that  it  will  be  to  our  advantage  to  wait  a  little-'while 
before  we  ask  for  that  purchase.  That  was  in  our  supplemental 
estimates,  but  not  transmitted  by  the  commissioners;  but  we  are 
going  to  ask — and  I  will  submit  the  item  a  little  latter,  if  I  may — that 
we  be  allowed  to  purchase  some  additional  land  and  add  four  rooms 
to  the  Wheatley  School,  which  is  a  school  east  and  north  of  Kendall 
Green. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  213 

That  will  enal>lo  us  to  take  care  of  a  very  crowd ccI  coiulition  in  the 
sixth  division,  whi('}\  is  tlie  division  running  from  E  to  F  Streets  NE,— 
approximately  E  Street  NE. — northerly  to  the  Ken(U\U  Green  country, 
and  mcliuling  the  northeast  section  of  the  city  where,  smce  tlie  con- 
struction of  the  Union  vStation,  a  large  number  of  liomes  have  gone 
up,  and  (mt  in  that  neighborliood  where  the  Wlieatley  School  is.  out 
m  the  neighborhoc^d  of  what  used  to  be  a  large  vacant  tract  where 
the  circus  and  other  performances  went  on,  but  wliich  has  "been  built 
up  in  the  last  year  by  row  after  row  of  houses,  so  that  I  do  not  know 
oi  any  section  of  the  city  v.'here  there  has  been  greater  buildmg 
activity:  and  they  are  people  of  moderate  means,  and  we  need  to 
g?t  out  there  and'  take  mer.surcs  to  take  care  of  the  people  in  that 
neighborhood;  so  that  I  am  going  to  ask  permission  to  submit  an 
estimate  for  an  addition  to  the  Wheatley  School  site.  Tliis  is  land 
that  can  be  purchased  cheaply  now,  and  we  need  the  structure  at 
this  point  at  this  time,  and  we  wiU  let  the  supplemental  esthnate  for 
the  Blair  School  and  the  addition  there  go  for  a  while,  at  tjiis  time. 

1  might  say  with  respect  to  what  is  on  page  52,  that  we  are  not  in 
favor  of  the  legislation  contemplated  on  page  52.  As  the  House  has 
omitted  it,  we  hardly  expected  the  Senate  to  ask  it. 

If  I  understand  correctly,  I  am  rec[uested  by  the  committee  to 
submit  a  clause  t}iat  will  cover  a  provision  of  the  legislative  appro- 
priation bill  as  to  the  limitation  of  salaries  to  S2,000,  and  I  am  granted 
permission  to  submit  an  estimate  for  a  Wlieatley  School  addition. 

I  want  to  thank  the  committee  for  their  kindness  and  patience  in 
listening  to  me.  Unless  there  are  some  c|uestions,  that  is  all.  We 
are  very  much  obliged  to  you. 

FREE    PUBLIC    LIBRARY. 

STATEMENTS  OF  MR.  GEORGE  F.  BOWERMAN,  LIBRARIAN, 
PUBLIC  LIBRARY,  AND  MR.  HENRY  S.  MATTHEWS,  OF  THE 
COMMITTEE  ON  LEGISLATION  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 
OF  THE  WASHINGTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Gentlemen,  we  are  ready  to  hear  you, 
but  we  would  ask  that  you  be  as  brief  as  possible.  We  have  so  much 
to  do  and  so  Httle  time  to  it  in  that  we  must  be  as  short  as  possible. 

Mr.  BowERMAX.  ]VIr.  Chairman,  I  desire  to  introduce  to  the  com- 
mittee Mr.  Henry  S.  Matthews,  a  member  of  the  committee  on 
legislation  of  the  library. 

"Senator  Smith  of  Maiyland.  I  take  if  for  granted  that  you  have 
had  a  hearing  before  the  House  on  these  matters? 

Mr.  BowERMAX.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  you  have  given  your  views 
relative  to  these  various  items  you  now  want  to  talk  about;  is  that 
the  case  ? 

Mr.  BowERMAX.  We  gave  a  general  statement  before  the  House 
committee.  We  want  to  speak  very  briefly  on  some  .supplemental 
matters  that  have  come  u])  since. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  there  anything  that  you  want  to 
say  to  us?  Of  course,  we  can  refer  to  the  House  hearings  and  get 
all  the  information  from  them  that  may  be  necessary.  Is  there  any- 
thing further,  supplementary  to  what  you  have  said  to  the  House? 


214  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    AI?PROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 


IXCREASES  IN  SALARIES. 


Mr.  Matthews.  Mr.  Senator,  there  is  but  one  matter  that  I  wish 
to  address  myself  to,  and  that  is  a  matter  that  Dr.  Bowerman  is  pre- 
vented from  taking  charge  of  on  account  of  modest}^  It  is  a  matter 
that  affects  his  salary,  and  the  treatment  of  a  provision  for  that 
salary  in  the  House  committee,  and  also  that  of  his  assistant  and  the 
staff  there,  and  it  is  simph'  on  account  of  that  that  I  wanted  to  say 
something  in  regard  to  the  matter.  I  was  not  present  at  the  hearing 
of  this  matter  before  the  House  committee. 

What  I  wanted  to  say  was  this:  That  the  trustees  of  the  Public 
Library,  of  whom  I  am  one,  had  placed  in  the  estimates  the  salary 
of  Dr.  Bowerman,  who  is  our  librarian,  at  So, 000  a  year.  That 
estimate  has  been  submitted  by  the  trustees  since  1909.  This  year 
that  was  approved  by  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  the  District 
of  Columbia.  When  the  list  of  estimates  appeared  in  the  appropria- 
tion bill  as  framed  bv  the  House  committee,  it  appeared  as  S4,000. 
The  present  salary  is  S3, 500.  That  salary  has  been  S3, 500  since 
1908.  While  we  have  asked,  a.nd  conscientiously  asked,  right  straight 
through  for  this  increase  up  to  the  sum  of  S5,000  a  year,  we  felt 
somewhat  pleased  that  our  efforts  had  been  rewarded  in  behaff  of 
our  librarian  to  the  extent  of  advancing  his  s<ilary  S500.  On  the 
point  of  order,  however,  that  S500  was  cut  out  so  far  as  the  librarian 
was  concerned,  and  a  little  request  for  $300  extra,  making  SI, 800, 
was  cut  out  from  the  appropriation  biU  as  aft'ecting  tne  assistant 
librarian.  What  I  wish  to  state  is  this:  I  wanted  to  impress,  so 
far  as  I  possibly  could,  upon  this  connnittee  the  necessity  that  cer- 
tainly the  S500  extra,  making  S4,000,  should  be  put  back  in  the  bill 
if  it  is  possible  to  do  so.  We  have  here  a  gentleman  as  librarian 
who  has  been  a  librarian  of  that  institution  ever  since  the  Carnegie 
fund  was  devoted  to  the  building  of  that  library.  If  there  is  any 
credit  whatever  to  be  taken  for  the  success  of  an  institution  which 
we  understand  to  be  considered  most  efRcient  ever^^where,  not  only 
here  in  Washington,  but  outside,  the  success  is  due  to  our  librarian, 
and  we  are  now  just  in  a  position  where,  if  we  lose  him,  the  trustees 
have  no  way  in  the  world,  for  the  compensation  that  is  offered,  to 
furnish  a  man  in  his  place  that  can  afford  anything  like  the  efficient 
service  we  have  gotten  from  Dr.  Bowerman. 

Senator  Gallixger.  If  you  can  not  get  the  S5,000  which  Avas 
originally  asked  for,  it  would  be  a  gratification  now  to  have  the 
salary  placed  at  S4,000  ( 

Mr.  Matthews.  It  would,  indeed;  and  I  want  the  committee  to 
understand  that  I  am  speaking  here  for  the  trustees.  Mr.  Noyes 
usually  looks  after  this  matter,  but  Mr.  Noyes  was  not  able  to  get 
here,  and  I  have  come  up  here  myself  with  a  most  unselfish  motive 
to  serve  an  institution  which  I  think  is  worthy  of  the  highest  con- 
sideration we  could  give  it.  We  gentlemen  receive  nothing,  our- 
selves. We  do  the  best  we  can.  But  we  recognize  that  we  arc  per- 
fectly helpless  unless  we  are  able  to  compensate  these  gentlemen  in  a 
way  their  ability  deserves. 

I  should  like  to  say  to  the  committee  that  we  have  already  lost  the 
services  of  our  assistant  librarian,  who  was  drawing  SI, 500  a  year. 
We  had  asked  for  $2,000  for  this  gentleman.  We  got  $1,800.  That 
extra  $300  went  out  on  the  pomt  of  order.     I  do  not  know  the  merits 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  215 

of  the  point  of  order.  I  have  heard  what  the  point  of  order  is.  liut 
tliere  was  no  ground  whatever,  so  far  as  the  ahiht}'  of  these  gentle- 
men who  earn  their  salary  was  coneerned. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Under  the  rides  of  the  House  that  point  of 
order  coidd  not  be  resisted;  but  we  are  governed  by  difTereut  rules 
and  different  ideas  here. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  had  three  increases  here,  one 
for  the  librarian  from  §3,500  to  S4,000,  one  for  the  assistant  librarian 
from  SI, 500  to  S1,S00.  and  one  for  the  chief  of  tlie  circulating  depart- 
ment from  $1,200  to  11,500. 

^Ii-.  Matthews.   Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  As  I  understand,  those  items  were 
agreed  to  by  the  House  committee,  but  they  went  out  on  the  point  of 
order  on  the  floor  of  the  House  ( 

Mr.  Matthews.  Yes.  I  promised  not  to  take  any  time,  and  I  do 
not  propose  to  take  any,  but  in  our  report  which  was  submitted  for 
the  year  1915  you  will  find  on  page  10  a  recommendation  which  has 
been  carried  for  the  last  seven  vears,  and  at  the  end  of  that  clause, 
under  the  heading  "Increase  of  librarian's  salary  an  urgent  need," 
you  will  find  stated  the  compensations  received  by  the  librarians  of 
public  libraries  in  cities  some  larger,  and  some  smaller,  an.d  some 
about  the  same  size  as  Washington  City.  At  the  end  of  that  is  a 
letter  from  Dr.  Putnam,  written  in  1911,  which  would  describe  more 
thoroughly  and  more  strongly  the  condition  wdiich  we  are  in  in  that 
library  than  anything  I  could  say  if  I  took  two  hours  of  the  time  of 
the  committee,  and  I  would  be  very  grateful  to  the  committee  if  they 
would  consider  that.  That  is  what  Dr.  Putnam  says  in  regard  to  the 
matter,  and  that  states  exactly  the  condition  we  are  in. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  suggest  that  this  matter  con- 
taining the  list  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Matthews  be  placed  in  the  record, 
together  with  the  extract  from  the  letter  of  Mr.  Putnam.  The  whole 
matter  is  very  brief. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  AYithout  objection  it  w411  be  placed  in 
the  record. 

(The  matter  submitted  by  Mr.  Matthews  is  here  inserted  in  the 
record  in  full,  as  follows:) 

Tlie  following  extracts  from  the  current  report  of  the  library  trustees  show  how 
strongly  we  feel  that  the  interests  of  the  library  demand  that  the  librarian's  salary 
should  be  increased: 

INTREASE  OF  LIUP.ARIAN 's  SALARY  AN  UKGEXT  NEED. 

In  iu'i;iug  the  necessity  for  radical  increases  in  the  salaries  of  the  professional  staff 
of  the  lilirarj',  foremost  place  should  be  given  to  our  recommendation  for  the  payment 
of  an  adequate  salary  to  our  higlily  efficient  chief  librarian.  Dr.  Bowerman  has  just 
completed  1 1  years  of  service  here,  during  wliich  t  ime  he  has  literally  transformed  the 
library,  lie  has  increased  the  quantity  and  quality  of  its  servi'ce  manyfold.  Over- 
coming the  handicap  of  meager  salaries  paid  to  his  professional  staff,  he  has  inspired 
his  assistants  with  liis  o\^'n  earnestness,  /.eal,  and  spirit  of  high  and  disinterested 
endea\or.  Through  Dr.  Bowerman"s  efforts  our  local  liln-ary  has  been  made  to  rank 
in  the  ([uality  of  its  service  with  the  foremost  public  libraries  of  the  country.  Dr. 
Putnam,  Librarian  of  Congress,  whose  opinion  is  recognized  as  that  of  an  expert,  in 
writing  in  1911  to  the  chairman  of  the  House  Subconunittee  on  the  District  of  ('olinni)ia 
appropriation  bill,  declared  that  our  library  was  then  ""the  most  intelligently  active 
for  its  size  and  coastiiuency  tiiai  I  know  of  ^\'ithin  the  entire  countrv."  Dr.  lioNVor- 
man's  standing  as  a  chief  librarian  has  also  recently  been  recognized  by  his  appoint- 
ment to  the  chairmanshiji  of  the  connnitteeon  iil)rary  administration  of  the  American 
Library  Association. 


216  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  191  "l. 

There  has  beeu  no  change  in  the  librarian's  salary  since  July  1,  1909,  when  it  was 
increased  from  !^3,250  to  S3. 509.  The  library  trustees  have  been  on  record  since  1908 
as  recommending  that  the  salary  be  made  ?5,000.  Until  it  is  so  increased  it  can  not 
be  regarded  as  commensurate  -vrith  the  high  quality  of  the  service  rendered  by  Dr. 
Bowerman,  and  not  till  then  Avill  it  h^  put  on  a  par  with  salaries  paid  to  chief  librarians 
01  other  municipal  libraries  of  equal  rank.  This  is  CAident  from  the  folloAnng  com- 
parative figures:  The  chief  Kbrarian  of  the  Xew  York  Public  Librarv  recei-\-es  S10,000 
per  vear;  that  of  the  Brooklvn  Public  Librarv.  S9,200:  Chica?o.  S8,000;  St.  Louis, 
$7,000;  Boston,  §6,000;  Cleveland.  S7,000;  Pittsburgh.  S6,000;  Detroit.  S4.000;  Buffalo, 
chief  librarian,  §4.000,  and  ^•ice  librarian,  S3. 000;  Los  Angeles.  $4,500;  Milwaukee, 
$4,000;  Cincinnati,  S6,000;  Newark,  $6,000;  Seattle.  So, 000;  Kan.«as  Cilv,  S'4,500; 
Rochester  (a  verv  new  librarv),  $4,000:  St.  Paul.  $4,500;  and  Springfield,  Mass, 
$5,000. 

Tliis  year  we  earnestly  recommend  that  the  long  overdue  increase  in  the  librarian's 
Balary  be  made,  and  that  a  full  rather  than  a  partial  measure  of  justice  be  done  to  him 
and  to  the  library  by  increasing  his  salary  to  the  figures  iirged  by  the  library  trustees 
for  so  many  years.  We  can  not  afford  to  lose  Dr.  Bowerman.  Such  an  event  is  not 
at  all  unlikely  unless  we  are  able  to  pay  liim  a  more  adequate  salary.  Dr.  Putnam, 
in  his  letter  already  referred  to,  voiced  tlie  sentiments  of  the  library  trustees  when 
he  wrote  as  follows: 

"I  venture  one  further  detail.  wMch  I  could  not  well  mention  in  Mr.  Bowerman's 
pres-^-nce.  It  is  tliat  should  he  leave  us  I  should  be  at  a  loss  to  suggc  st  any  man  so 
competent  to  succeed  him.  And  that  he  will  be  drawn  elsewhere  is  much  to  be 
feared  so  long  as  his  salary  remains  so  much  below  that  paid  in  equivalent  positions. 
My  conscience  has  already  been  somewhat  strained  in  avoiding  suggestion  of  his  name 
in  connection  with  more  lucrarive  appointments  as  to  which  I  have  been  consulted. 
But  I  hate  to  assist  in  depriA-ing  the  District  of  an  official  of  his  intelligence,  energy, 
and  equipment,  who  has  accumulated  such  a  useful  experience  in  its  ser-\dce.'" 

Mr.  Matthews.  I  brought  that  along  specially,  because  the  urgency 
of  the  case  was  made  more  apparent  by  that  language  than  by 
an3^thing  I  could  say. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  gotten  through  with  the  part  I  had  to  do,  and 
I  thank  you  very  much  for  your  attention. 

Senator  Smith  of  Mar^^land.  Now,  Dr.  Bowerman. 

Mr.  BowERMAX.  Mr.  Chairman,  the  House  bill  carried  increases 
in  47  positions,  and  we  are  very  grateful  for  those.  It  increased 
practically  all  of  the  minor  salaries,  with  one  or  two  exceptions. 
The  committee  was  convinced  that  the  salaries  needed  raising. 
There  is  one  of  those  salaries  below  SI, 200  that  was  not  increased 
that  I  think  there  is  equal  reason  for  increasing,  and  that  is  the  salary 
of  the  position  of  the  reference  librarian,  at  81,000.  That  is  on  page 
12  of  the  bill,  Hne  15.  That  position  requu-es  a  college  education 
and  thorough  training  in  librarianship.  It  is  a  position  that  serves 
the  public  in  an  expert  wav,  and  the  salarv,  in  all  reason,  ought  to 
be  raised  from  SI, 000  to  $1^200. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  see  that  that  official  has  an  assistant  at  the 
same  salary  as  he  himself  gets. 

Mr.  Bowerman.  Yes;  there  are  some  discrepancies.  I  think  that 
Mr.  Matthews  has  covered  the  question  of  the  assistant  librarian, 
except  for  this:  The  new  man  we  liave  got,  who  has  just  come,  came 
to  me  under  these  cu'cumstances :  Tliree  or  four  men  were  recom- 
mended to  me  by  the  New  York  State  Library  School.  They^said. 
"Mr.  Hamilton  is  the  best  of  the  lot.  If  you  take  him,  however,  if 
you  want  to  hold  him  you  have  got  to  raise  his  salarv."  I  had  had 
word  from  the  House  that  they  expected  to  make  this  increase  from 
$1,500  to  SI, 800,  and,  expecting  that  it  would  either  stay  in  and  not 
get  knocked  out  on  the  point  of  order,  or  that  the  Senate  would  add 
it,  I  took  the  risk  of  getting  him.  in  the  hope  that  I  could  retain  him 
more  than  a  very  short  time. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    feILL,  1917.  217 

Wo  asked,  in  the  case  of  the  chief  of  the  Circuhitiiig  Dopartiuent, 
an  increase  from  $1,500  to  SI, 800,  which  was  also  put  in  the  l)ill  but 
knocked  out  on  the  floor.  That  emploj^ee  has  25  })ersons  under  her. 
She  is  a  college  woman,  who  has  been  with  me  for  12  years,  and  is 
highly  efficient. 

ADDITIONAL   EMPLOYEES. 

Our  original  estimates  sent  to  the  commissioners  recjuired  14  addi- 
tional emploj'ees.  In  the  pruning  process  they  were  reduced  to  13. 
Every  year  smce  I  have  been  librarian  our  work  has  shown  a  very 
large  increase.  Some  years  we  have  had  absolutely  no  increases  in 
personnel,  and  whenever  we  have  had  any  increase  in  personnel  the 
work  has  been  proportionately  larger  than  the  increase;  so  that  as  a 
result  the  personnel  has  proportionately  dropped  back  as  compared 
with  the  work,  and  we  are  asking  for  13  additional  people,  of  which 
number  three  were  granted  by  the  House.  We  need  every  single 
one  of  those  13  simply  to  catch  up.  At  the  present  time  the  work  is 
too  nmch  on  a  mechanical  basis.  We  are  strugglino-  and  straining 
simply  to  keep  the  ship  afloat,  and  we  have  not  the  time  to  give  the 
careful,  patient  attention  that  each  individual  reader  requires  in  an 
educational  institution  like  a  public  library;  so  that  if  we  could  at 
once  catch  up,  our  estimates  from  jear  to  year  would  not  have  what 
seems,  at  the  first  blush,  a  disproportionate  increase.  Then  the  in- 
creases would  be  gradual  increases,  proportionate,  pari  passu,  with 
the  increase  in  the  work. 

BRANCH   LIBRARY   IN   PARK   VIEW   SCHOOL. 

Again,  the  Park  View  Citizens'  Association  has  sent  an  urgent  re 
quest  to  us  to  open  a  branch  library  in  the  new  Park  View  School' 
which  will  be  opened  in  the  fall.  That  building  has  been  built  from 
plans  approved  by  the  commissioners  and  appropriated  for  by  Con- 
gress, with  a  branch  library  room.  They  asked  us  if  we  would  es- 
tablish a  branch  library  there.  Mj  reply  is,  we  can  not  do  it  unless 
we  get  the  additional  employees  included  in  our  estimates. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Have  you  authority  to  do  it,  anyway? 

Mr.  BowER:srAX.  Yes,  Mr.  Senator;  the  library  is  a  supplement  of 
the  public  educational  sj^stem,  and  we  have  taken  that  as  the  broad 
authority  to  send  books  to  the  public  schools.  Practically  everj^ 
public  school  in  the  city  we  are  sending  books  to. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes. 

Mr.  Bower:max.  And  this  is  something  different  in  the  idea  of 
having  a  branch  library  there,  and  since  the  plans  were  approved  by 
Congress,  we  took  it  that  when  the  plans  were  completed  that  would 
be  used. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  do  not  think  that  Congress  ever  acted  on 
that.     I  think  the  Supervising  Architect  may  have  done  so. 

Mr.  BowERMAX.  We  ought  to  have  several  branch  library  build- 
ings, when  we  can  use  the  Caniegie  money;  and  in  addition  to  this, 
as  an  economical  proposition,  the  suburban  school  buildings  ought 
to  be  built  as  this  one  was,  lookhig  in  the  definite  direction  of  having 
them  use  a  certain  space  in  each  building  set  aside  as  a  branch 
librar}-.     No    additional    heating   plant    and    no    additiorial   janitor 


218  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1017. 

service  is  re'}iiired,  and  if  provided  with  an  outside  entrance  it  is  an 
economical  proposition. 

Senator  Gallixger.  You  will  have  to  have  a  librarian  then,  will 
you  not  >. 

Mr.  BowERMAX.  No;  but  that  is  an  investment,  not  an  expense; 
and  you  do  not  have  to  have  three  additional  people  as  you  would 
otherwise.  You  would  not  have  to  have  a  jarator  force  to  do  it. 
We  vrant  to  meet  this  perfectly  reasonable  demand,  as  we  believe, 
of  the  Park  View  Citizens'  Association,  and  we  want  also,  Mr.  Senator, 
to  denionstrate  that  this  is  an  economical  proposiiion,  and  we  want 
to  occupy  that  territory  and  show  what  can  be  done,  and  demonstrate 
to  Con.gress  an.d  to  the  board  of  education  that  this  ought  to  be 
done  hi  all  new  public  school  buildings.  But,  as  I  say,  our  estimates 
simply  looked  to  doing  the  central  library  work,  practically,  and  it 
would  be  a  strahi  even  to  occupy  that,  but  if  you  will  give  us  the 
$10,000  additional  we  will  run  the  central  library  properly  and  we 
will  do  that  too  for  the  sake  of  the  demonstration. 

KEEPIXG    OPEN    CENTRAL   LlBRARy   ON    SUNDAYS   AND   HOLIDAYS. 

Unless  you  have  questions,  I  will  not  trench  on  your  time  any 
further  except  to  offer,  if  I  may,  a  substitute  for  the  paragraph  on 
page  13,  lines  7  to  13,  for  keeping  the  central  library  open  52  Sun- 
days, etc.,  S2,000.     I  submit  the  following  language: 

Substitute  for  the  paragraph  reading  (p.  13,  lines  7  to  13): 

For  keeping  the  central  library  open  52  Sundays  from  2  o'clock  p.  m.  to  9  o'clock 
p.  m.,  live  'Holidays  from  9  o'clock  a.  m.  to  9  o'clock  p.  m.,  and  for  extra  service?  on 
Saturday  afternoons  in  July,  August,  and  September;  for  keeping  the  Takonia  Park 
branch  open  on  holidays  and  for  extra  services  there  on  Saturday  halt  holidin  s.  $2,000. 

the  following  language : 

For  extra  services  on  Sundays,  holidays,  and  Saturday  half  holidays.  $2,000. 

The  reasons  for  this  proposed  change  are  as  follows :  This  service  has 
always  been  rendered  by  volunteers  from  the  regular  library  staff. 
We  have  found  on  the  one  hand  that,  latterl}',  the  use  of  the  central 
library  on  Sundays  in  July,  August,  and  September  has  been  too  small 
to  justif}'  keeping  the  library'  open  during  the  summer  Sundays,  The 
language  of  the  appropriation  act  requii-es  that  the  central  library  be 
kept  open  every  Sunday  throughout  the  year.  We  have  found,  on  the 
other  hand,  great  difficulty  in  getting  members  of  the  staff  to  volun- 
teer for  Sunday  work,  especially  during  the  summer,  but  also  all  the 
year  round,  for  the  pay  that  we  are  able  to  offer.  If  the  law  could  be 
changed  so  that  we  could  close  the  central  library  on  Sundays  dming 
the  summer,  we  would  then  be  able  to  pay  at  a  higher  rate,  and  so 
more  easilv  employ  persons  needed  to  keep  the  library  open  on  the  39 
Sundays,  from  October  1  to  June  30, 

It  would  give  us  discretion,  Mr.  Chairman,  in  that  matter,  and  would 
be  an  improvement  in  efficiency.     I  offer  that  change  of  lai^guage. 

Now,  1  shall  be  glad  to  answer  any  further  cpiestions;  but  I  do  not 
want  to  take  your  time  further,  I  wish  you  would  all  come  down  and 
look  us  over  and  see  the  work  that  we  are  doing,  and  appreciate  that 
these  are  not  padded  estimates,  but  that  we  vitally  need  these  things. 
We  are  doing  a  big  fin.e  work,  but  we  ought  to  do  a  bigger  work  here; 
and  we  could  do  it  if  we  had  the  force  to  do  it.  Thank  you  very  much, 
Mr,  Chairman. 


DISTr.IOT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1017.  210 

.TUVENII.E    COURT. 

STATEMENT  OF  J.  WILMER  LATIMER,  JUDGE  JUVENILE  COURT. 

IXVESTIGATINC    AXD    PROBATION    OFFICERS. 

Judge  Latimer.  Mr.  Chairman,  the  difference  between  the  amount 
?stimated  for  hy  the  commissioners  and  the  amount  allowed  l)y  tlie 
House  is  85,300,  and,  as  we  see  it,  that  is  the  diflference  between  satis- 
factory service  at  the  juvenile  court  and  unsatisfactory  service,  and 
[  asked  to  have  the  opportunity  to  come  here  to  explain  very  briefly 
4vhy  we  think  those  items  which  were  not  included  by  the  House, 
filthcnigh  estimated  for  by  the  commissioners,  should  be  included, 
rhree  items,  of  $1,200  each,  account  for  $3,600  of  that.  Those  items 
ire,  one  investigating  officer  for  children's  cases,  one  investigating 
3flicer  for  adult  cases,  ami  one  probation  officer  for  adult  cases;  those 
bhrce  officers,  each  at  $1,200. 

We  have  never  had  in  the  juvenile  court  any  probation  for  the 
adults  or  any  investigation  of  those  adult  cases,  and  I  shall  not  take 
the  time  to  point  out  the  necessity  for  that,  because  I  went  over  it 
fully  before  the  House  committee,  and  I  understand  that  you  gentle- 
men take  those  hearings  and  consider  those,  and  I  do  not  need  to 
repeat  here  what  was  said  there,  but  it  is  apparent  that  it  is  an  abso- 
[ute  necessity,  to  all  persons  who  know  anything  about  the  work  of 
the  juvenile  court — that  is,  all  social  workers  and  those  having  any 
connection  with  it — that  there  should  be  careful  investigation  of 
those  cases  before  the  cases  are  tried  and  judgment  is  entered;  and 
also  that  after  the  judgment  there  should  be  some  probation  in  the 
aope  of  keeping  the  husband  and  father,  who  is  the  defendant  in 
those  nonsupport  cases,  in  his  home  rather  than  to  send  him  to  the 
tvorkhouse.  If  he  goes  to  the  workhouse  his  family  are  dependent 
upon  the  community,  whereas  if  we  can  keep  him  in  his  home  his 
'amily  is  not  dependent  upon  the  community-  We  have  probation 
n  all  the  other  courts  here  in  the  District  of  Columbia;  we  have  pro- 
bation in  the  criminal  court  for  the  adult  criminals;  we  have  proba- 
tion in  the  police  court  for  the  adult  criminals;  but  we  have  no 
orobation  provided  for  the  adults  in  these  nonsupport  cases;  and  if 
you  provide  us  with  the  investigating  officer  for  the  adult  cases  and 
the  probation  officer  for  the  adult  cases,  before  these  cases  are  brought 
n  for  trial  we  will  have  had  all  the  circumstances  investigated,  and 
the  witnesses  will  be  there  to  testify  to  the  true  conditions,  and  we 
;vill  be  able  to  get  at  the  truth  and  render  a  just  judgment;  and 
after  that  we  will  be  in  position  to  serve  the  families  involved. 

MESSENGER. 

The  other  items  are  smaller,  and  I  shall  not  refer  to  tliem  any  more 
than  to  sa}^  that  the  estimates  were  prepared  very  carefully  and  ^^one 
Dver  ver}"  carefully  with  Commissioner  Newman,  and  we  believe 
sach  one  of  them  is  a  necessity.  There  is  no  messenger  in  the  juvenile 
court,  and  when  it  is  necessary  for  some  one  to  go  out  on  an  errand 
the  question  always  arises,  who  is  to  go.  Several  times  each  day 
5ome  one  has  to  go  out  on  a  message,  to  the  bank  or  to  the  District 
Commissioners'  office  or  some  other  place. 


220  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  see  they  have  given  you  an  increase 
of  $5,100. 

Judge  Latimer.  Yes.  ' 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  asked  for  $5,000  more  than  they  i 
gave  you. 

Judge  Latimer.  85,300.  ; 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  No;  you  asked  for  S28,590  and  they  i 
gave  you  823,790. 

FURNITURE,    FIXTURES,    EQUIPMENT,    AND     REPAIRS   TO     COURTHOUSE   AND   GROUNDS 

Judge  Latimer.  There  is  another  item  at  the  bottom,  lines  14  and 
15,  on  page  64,  "For  furniture,  fixtures,  equipment,  and  repairs  to 
the  courthouse  and  grounds,"  and  another,  in  lines  16  to  21,  for  fuel, 
ice,  etc. 

MESSENGER — AGAIN. 

When  it  comes  to  sending  anybody  on  any  message,  the  question 
arises  who  is  to  go,  and  sometimes  it  is  t£e  clerk,  sometimes  the 
deputy  clerk  or  the  janitor,  and  sometimes  it  is  the  judge  himself, 
who  happens  to  have  a  little  gasoline  runabout,  a  Ford  car.  The 
House  did  not  see  fit  to  give  us  a  messenger,  and  we  need  one,  and  I 
think  when  you  come  to  consider  these  items  you  will  see  there  are 
no  unnecessary  ones;  and  taken  in  connection'with  the  explanation 
given  to  the  House  committee,  I  feel  satisfied  that  each  one  of  those 
is  satisfactorily  explained. 

(At  2.20  o'clock  p.  m.,  the  subcommittee  adjourned  until  to-mor- 
row, Thursday,  June  22,  1916,  at  11  o'clock  a.  m.) 

THURSDAY,  JUNE  22,   1916. 

United  States  Senate, 
Subcommittee  of  the  Committee  on  Appropriations, 

WasJiington,  D.  C. 

The  subcommittee  met  at  10.30  o'clock  a.  m. 

Present:  Senators  Smith  of  Maryland  (chairman),  Gallinger,  Dil- 
lingham, and  Curtis. 

Henry  B.  F.  Macfarland,  Corcoran  Thom,  E.  C.  Brandenburg,  A. 
Leftwich  Smclair,  William  McK.  Cla3^ton,  Charles  C.  Lancaster,  and 
others  appeared. 

STATEMENT   OF  FRANK   S.   HIGHT,   MANAGER  OF  THE  NEW 
WILLARD  HOTEL. 

widening  of  fourteenth  street  BETAVEEN  PENNSYLVANIA  AVENUE 
AND    F    STREET. 

The  Chairman  (Senator  Smith).  We  will  hear  you,  Mr.  Hight. 
I  want  to  say,  gentlcm -n,  that  wliile  we  do  not  want  to  hurry  you  un- 
necessarily, we  would  like  to  have  you  bo  as  brief  as  possible.  There 
are  so  many  to  b:^  heard,  and  so  little  time  in  which  to  hear  them, 
that  I  feel  it  is  important  that  we  should  ask  you  to  be  brief  in  what- 
ever you  are  about  to  say. 

Have  you  been  before  the  House  in  regard  to  this  matter,  Mr.  Hight  ? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  221 

Mr.  HiGHT.  No,  sir. 

St-nator  Smith.  You  hare  made  no  statement  to  them? 

Mr.  HiGiiT.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Dillixgiiam.  You  represent  the  Willard  Hotel? 

Mr.  HiGiiT.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  You  wanted  to  speak  in  regard  to  the  widening  of 
Fourteenth  Street,  I  beUev-e. 

Mr.  HiGHT.  Yes,  sir. 

There  is  an  item  in  the  House  appropriation  bill  for  the  District  of 
Columbia  appropriating  $7,500  for  widening  24  feet,  and  repaying 
with  asphalt  Fourteenth  Street  between  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and 
F  Street.  This  widening  is  to  be  accomplished  by  taking  12  feet 
from  each  sidewalk. 

This  appropriation  is,  in  our  opinion,  a  waste  of  public  money,  for 
two  reasons:  In  the  first  place,  the  present  pavement  is  in  perfect 
condition,  having  been  laid  less  than  a  year  ago ;  and  in  the  second 
place,  no  necessity  exists  for  widening  the  street  in  this  block,  as  it  is 
not,  never  has  been,  and  in  our  opinion  never  will  be,  an  important 
artery  of  traffic.  The  traffic  up  Pennsylvania  Avenue  goes  north  on 
Fifteenth  Street,  or  back  of  the  Treasury,  and  north  on  the  street 
between  the  Executive  Mansion  and  the  Treasury.  The  traffic  on 
F  Street  goes  north  on  Fourteenth  Street,  or  west  on  F  Street.  This 
can  readily  be  determined  by  the  slightest  observation. 

Incidentally,  it  is  worthy  of  consideration  whether,  on  account  of 
the  grade,  the  present  granite-block  and  scoria-block  pavement  is 
not  absolutely  necessary  for  such  traffic  as  there  is,  particularly  in  the 
case  of  horse-drawn  vehicles. 

In  this  connection,  also,  it  hardly  seems  logical  to  contend  that 
there  is  such  a  demand  for  the  widening  of  Fourteenth  Street,  when 
in  that  vicinity  both  other  streets  on  which  the  hotel  faces  have  been 
narrowed  lately  b}-  establishing  parking  spaces  in  the  center  of  the 
street.  Pennsylvania  Avenue  has  been  practically  narrowed  by  es- 
tablishing two  rows  of  parking  spaces,  one  on  each  side  of  the  car 
tracks,  and  F  Street  has  been  narrowed  by  establishing  one  row  of 
parking  space  down  the  center  of  the  street.  So,  if  those  streets  can 
stand  being  narrowed,  it  does  not  seem  logical  to  suppose  that  there 
is  such  a  crying  need  for  having  Fourteenth  Street  widened. 

Furthermore,  in  order  to  bring  about  this  unnecessary  change,  and 
in  connection  with  this  unnecessary  waste  of  public  funds,  our  vaults, 
which  contain  our  engines,  boilers,  elevator  pumps,  ice  plant,  etc., 
and  which  were  located  several  years  ago  by  permission  underneath 
the  sidewalk,  will  be  damaged  to  the  extent  of  thousands  of  dc^llars, 
if  not  destroyed,  in  so  far  as  any  use  to  us  is  concerned. 

If  that  part  of  the  street  which,  in  the  event  of  widening,  would 
extend  over  the  vaults,  could  be  supported  by  columns,  the  expense 
certainly  would  be  not  less  than  815,000  to  S20,000.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  this  could  not  be  done,  and  the  vaults  were  utterly  destroyed, 
the  damage  would  be  incalculable. 

In  addition,  an  expensive  iron  and  glass  marquee,  which  covers  the 
sidewalk  at  the  Fourtetnith  Street  entrance,  would  have  to  be  recon- 
structed at  great  expense,  and  two  sidewalk  lifts,  which  are  now  used 
for  removal  of  ashes,  would  have  to  be  relocated  at  very  large  expense. 

We  submit  that  it  is  manifestly  unjust  to  put  upon  us  a  l)urden  to 
this  extent  without,  as  any  fair  judge  of  conditions  in  our  vicinity 
can  testify,  doing  anybody  an    good. 


222  DISTPJCT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATION    BILL^  1917. 

Senator  Smith.  Mr.  Hight,  you  represent  the  Willard  Hotel,  as  1 
understand  ? 

Mr.  Hight.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith,  ilnd  it  is  in  their  interest  that  you  appear  ? 

Mr.  Hight.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  What  disposition  would  you  make  of  your 
vaults,  and  the  paraphernalia  you  have  under  the  sidewalk  now,  if 
this  scheme  were  carried  out? 

Mr.  Hight.  If  it  should  come  about  that  by  lowering  the  ceiling 
of  the  vault  underneath  where  the  street  would  come  we  could  put 
in  columns  there,  we  might  be  able  still  to  use  the  vaults  by  going  to 
the  expense  of  putting  in  these  columns,  doing  over  the  girders  sup- 
porting the  roof,  and  relocating  the  steam  pipes,  and  ail  that  sort  of 
thing,  which  would  amount  to  at  least  from  $15,000  to  S20,000,  as  I 
figure.  After  I  had  figured  it  out  roughly  I  took  up  chat  matter  with 
Mr.  Baird,  the  representative  of  the  Fuller  company,  which  con- 
structed the  building,  and  asked  him  if  he  thought  that  was  a  fair 
estimate,  and  he  said  he  thought  that  was  very  conservative. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  they  could  not  be  supported  in  such  a  way 
as  to  render  the  vaults  still  usable,  and  we  were  obliged  to  abandon 
those  vaults,  I  do  not  know  what  on  earth  we  would  do,  because  the 
ground  is  so  low  there,  and  we  are  below  the  sewer  level,  and  we  have 
not  any  subcellar;  and  we  would  have  to  devise  some  way — what,  I 
could  not  say — to  take  care  of  that  machinery.  Probably  we  would 
have  to  find  some  way  to  sink  a  subcellar  underneath  our  present 
basement;  and  the  expense  of  that,  of  course,  would  be  something 
enormous. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Aside  from  the  question  you  have  just  dis- 
cussed, have  you  found  anybody  who  believes  that  that  street  bet- 
ween Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  F  Street  should  be  paved  with 
asphalt  ? 

Mr.  Hight.  No,  sir;  I  have  not.  Tlie  grade  is  such  that  I  think 
the  use  of  asphalt  would  be  inadvisable.  The  fire  apparatus  on 
Fourteenth  Street  goes  up  that  hill  at  times,  and  it  certainly  needs 
something  there  into  which  the  horses  can  grip  their  hoofs ;  and  they 
could  not  grip  them  on  asphalt,  particularly  in  case  of  rain. 

Senator  Curtis.  Or  in  the  wintertime. 

Mr.  Hight.  Or  in  the  wintertime,  when  there  happens  to  be  a  little 
snow  or  sleet. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  put  all  these  fixtures  underneath  the  side- 
walk with  the  permit  and  consent  of  the  proper  authorities  ? 

Mr.  Hight.  Yes,  sir.  Our  first  permit  was  issued  by  the  War 
Department  on  April  5,  1900,  for  one  part  of  the  vault,  and  the 
second  one  November  12,  1902.  The  first  one  was  signed  by  Mr. 
Meiklejohn,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War  at  that  time.  The  second  one 
was  signed  by  Gen.  W.  Carey  Sanger,  Acting  Secretary  of  War  at  the 
time  the  second  one  was  obtained. 

Senator  Dillingham.  What  is  the  grade  of  that  street  ?    "" 

Mr.  Hight.  The  percentage  of  grade  I  could  not  tell  you,  Senator; 
but  it  is  sufRcient  grade  so  that  in  going  through  the  hotel  from  the 
Avenue  up  to  F  Street  you  go  up  four  steps  at  one  end  of  the  building, 
along  the  level  through  the  corridor,  and  then  go  up  13  or  14  steps  at 
the  other  end,  to  get  to  the  F  Street  level. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1017.  223 

This  item  was  up  last  year,  and  your  committee  did  not  see  the 
wisdom  of  granting  the  appropriation,  even  though  the  ])avement  had 
not  been  hiid.  Since  then  the  pavenunit  has  been  hiid  with  granite 
blocks;  and  it  would  mean  destroying  the  pavement  which  was  put 
in  there  a  year  ago  or  less  and  using  up  $7,500  of  the  public  money  to 
put  the  asphalt  there. 

Senator  Smith.  ;Mi-.  Hight,  did  any  one  representing  the  interests 
of  your  hotel  appear  before  the  House  committee  to  object  to  this 
item  in  i^ny  v/ay  ? 

Mr.  IIiGHT.  We  did  not  appear  before  the  committee,  Senator, 
although  we  had  talked  to  various  of  our  friends,  and  we  had  felt 
that  they  did  not  approve  of  the  item.  For  that  reason  we  did  not 
ask  for  a  hearing;  but  it  seemed,  afterwards,  that  we  were  mistaken. 

Senator  Smith.  Did  you  object  to  the  commissioners  in  regard  to 
the  proposed  action,  or  did  you  not  know  that  they  were  contem- 
plating it  ^ 

Mr.  HiGHT.  There  was  no  notice  by  the  commissioners.  The  first 
knowledge  we  ever  had  of  it,  Senator,  was  when  we  saw  it  in  the 
District  appropriation  bill,  printed  in  the  paper. 

Senator  Smith.  You  did  not  protest  to  the  District  of  Columbia 
Commissioners  I 

^'Ii\  Hight.  We  had  no  opportunity.  I  have  personally  protested 
to  Commissioner  Ne\mian,  but  we  had  no  public  hearing;  we  had  no 
opportunity  to  protest  to  the  commissioners. 

Senator  Smith.  Have  you  had  any  talk  with  them  since  you  knew 
of  this  movement  on  their  part  ? 

Mr.  Hight.  Yes,  sir;  I  have  talked  to  Commissioner  Newman  on 
the  subject. 

Senator  Smith.  Without  effect? 

Mr.  Hight.  Without  effect.  It  had  already  gone  into  the  bill,  and 
I  assumed  that  v%-e  would  have  no  opportunity  to  make  any  change 
after  he  had  put  in  his  request  for  the  appropriation.  But  before 
they  discussed  and  agreed  upon  the  item  we  had  no  opportunity  to 
protest,  and  no  knowledge  that  they  were  to  do  it.  We  had  no 
opportunity  to  appear,  and  no  notice  of  their  intention  to  do  this. 
Last  year,  when  the  matter  was  up,  we  went  over  and  appeared  before 
the  full  board,  over  at  the  District  Building,  and  protested  against  it. 

Senator  Smith.  Last  year? 

Mr.  Hight.  Last  year. 

Senator  Smith.  And  it  was  not  recommended  by  them  then  ? 

Mr.  Hight.  It  was  recommended  by  them,  but  your  committee 
did  not  see  fit  to  approve  it. 

Senator  Smith.  I  speak  of  the  House.  Did  they  recommend  it 
last  year?  They  did  recommend  it  last  year,  as  w^eU  as  this  year; 
did  they? 

Mr.  Hight.  I  am  not  sure  on  that  point.  Senator,  whether  it  was 
recommended  by  the  House  or  whether  it  originated  in  the  Senate. 
It  could  not  have  originated  in  the  Senate,  I  presume. 

The  traffic  up  and  down  that  hill.  Senator,  as  anybody  can  testify 
who  lives  in  that  vicinity  and  observes  it  at  all,  is  practically  nothing. 
There  is  never  any  congestion  whatever  on  the  hill.  There  is  always 
plenty  of  space  for  vehicles;  and  it  is  not  a  crowded  line  of  traffic, 
because  the  traffic  does  not  go  that  way.  It  is  decreasing,  if  anything. 
The  point  we  would  like  to  bring  out  is  that  it  is  not  only  spending 


224  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

S7,5U0  of  public  money  and  in  our  honest  o])inion  doing  no  benefit  to 
anybody,  but  on  top  of  that  it  is  putting  a  big  burden  of  expense  on 
usf  We  feel  that  we  should  earnestly  protest,  and  we  feel  that  it 
is  fair  that  we  should  be  relieved  of  having  to  bear  that  burden. 

Senat(u*  Smith.  As  I  understand  you,  you  say  that  if  this  were  done 
the  least  expense  that  vou  woidd  incur  in  regard  to  the  widening 
woidd  be  from  $15,000  to  $20,000  to  take  care  of  your  vaults  ? 

Mr.  HiGHT.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  What  other  inconvenience  would  it  cause  to  you? 

Mr.  HiGHT.  It  all  depends  upon  when  it  was  done  and  what  we 
would  have  to  do  with  our  machinery,  or  whether  the  machinery 
could  be  used  while  the  work  was  going  on.  I  do  not  know  as  to  that. 
I  do  not  know  just  how  long  it  would  take.  If  the  work  were  to  be 
done  in  the  winter  time,  and  it  interfered  with  our  elevator  pumps, 
we  could  not  operate  our  elevators,  because  our  elevators  are  hy- 
draulic elevators.  They  are  not  operated  by  electricity,  and  we 
need  the  pumps.  W^e  coidd  not  operate  them.  Our  laundry  machine 
is  out  there.  Our  ice  plant  is  out  there.  We  could  not  operate  our 
ice  plant;  we  could  not  make  the  ice,  and  we  could  not  refrigerate 
the  boxes. 

Senator.  Smith.  Would  the  widening  of  that  street  affect  your 
property  in  any  wa}-  ?  Would  it  depreciate  it  by  the  encroachment 
upon  your  sidewalk  ? 

Mr.  HiGHT.  Yes,  sir;  it  would  decrease  the  width  of  the  sidewalk 
by  12  feet.  There  are  openings  there  in  the  sidewalk  for  the  removal 
of  ashes  and  the  taking  in  of  coal.  It  would  put  those  openings 
nearer  the  building,  which  certainly  would  be  a  disadvantage,  bring- 
ing them  against  our  dming-room  windows,  which  open  on  that 
street.  As  it  is  now,  with  the  openings  to  take  in  the  coal  away  on  the 
edge  of  the  sidewalk,  we  are  compelled  to  have  a  pipe  frame  covered 
with  cloth  to  put  around  them  when  we  are  putting  in  coal  to  keep 
the  dust  from  blowing  in  the  windows  and  all  around  the  place.  If 
those  openings  were  moved  up  nearer  the  building,  there  would  be 
just  that  much  more  opportunity  of  all  this  dust  and  dirt  blowing 
into  the  windows  and  becoming  objectiona])le  and  interfering  witli 
the  comfort  of  our  guests. 

Senator  Gallinger.  What  is  the  width  of  the  sidewalk  on  the 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  side,  Mr.  Hight,  in  front  of  your  hotel? 

Mr,  Hight.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  can  not  teU  you.  Senator;  but 
it  is  a  very  wide  sidewalk  there. 

Senator  Gallinger.  If  this  change  were  made,  you  would  have  a 
wide  sid(nvalk  on  the  Pennsylvania  Avenue  side,  and  a  narrow  side- 
walk on  the  Fourteenth  Street  side? 

Mr.  HicmT.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  Who  is  pushing  this  change,  Mr.  Right  ?  Wliere 
does  the  influence  back  of  it  come  from? 

Mr.  Hight.  The  matter  originated  with  the  commissioners  per- 
sonally, so  far  as  I  can  sec.  It  seems  to  me  a  matter  of  an  esthetic 
point  of  view  rather  than  a  utilitarian  point  of  view.  In  looking 
out  of  their  windows  over  at  the  District  Building  they  see  that  the 
sidewalk  is  wider  in  that  block  than  it  is  above,  so  that  instead  of  a 
straight  line  right  down  the  strcn^t  it  comes  down  and  curves  out  a 
little  and  goes  in  again;  and  it  would  look  ])etter,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  an  engineer  liking  a  straight  line,  to  have  a  straight  line  down 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  2'25 

Fourtoeuth  Street.  Aside  from  that  point  of  view,  Senator,  I  r<>ally 
can  not  see  how  they  ean  i)iit  forward  any  argument  for  having  tiiis 
work  done. 

Senator  Smith.  Is  there  any  sentiment  for  it  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  that  immediate  neighborhood  asking  for  it? 

Mr.  HiGHT.  Tliere  is  not ;  no,  sir.  There  is  no  pubHc  demand  what- 
ever for  it. 

Senator  Smith.  Have  you  anything  more  to  say  in  regard  to  the 
matter? 

Mr.  HiGHT.  Nothing  except  that  we  rely  upon  your  fairness  and 
justice  to  relieve  us  of  an  unnecessary  burchMi,  and  to  save  the  public 
money  to  the  extent  of  $7,500. 

Thank  you,  sir. 

fiscal  RELATIOX   BETWEEN  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  DISTRICT  OF 
COLUMBIA. 

STATEMENT  OF  HENRY  B.  F.  MACFARLAND,  CHAIRMAN  OF 
THE  JOINT  CITIZENS'  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF 
COLUMBIA  ON  THE  FISCAL  RELATION  BETWEEN  THE 
UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA. 

Mr.  Macfarland.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  appear  here  as  chairman  of  a 
joint  citizens'  committee  made  up  of  duly  appointed  representatives 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Committee  of 
One  Hundred  on  the  half-and-haH  plan,  the  Retail  Merchants'  Asso- 
ciation, the  Federation  of  Citizens'  Associations,  comprising  some 
25  citizens'  associations,  the  Bar  Association,  and  several  inde- 
pendent citizens'  associations — in  other  words,  all  the  principal 
civic  organizations  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  Tliis  committee  was 
formed  in  March,  1915,  at  the  time  of  the  creatio'n  of  the  eToint  Select 
Committee  of  Congress  on  the  Fiscal  Relation  Between  the  United 
States  and  the  District  of  Columbia,  in  order  to  concentrate  our  efforts 
and  to  economize  the  time  of  the  joint  select  committee  and  of  Con- 
gress in  presenting  the  facts  respecting  their  relation. 

This  joint  committee  of  citizens  spent  the  time  up  to  last  October, 
from  the  enactment  of  the  law  creating  the  joint  select  committee  of 
Congress  and  the  District  appropriation  act  approved  March  3, 1915,  in 
elal^orate  preparation  to  present  the  facts,  drawn  chiefly  from  United 
States  Government  departments,  respecting  taxation  and  assessment 
and  all  the  other  conditions  that  ought  to  be  taken  into  account  in 
the  consideration  of  this  matter.  It  prepared  a  brief  covering  the 
subject,  a  copy  of  which  I  shall  give  to  each  member  of  the  committee, 
and  in  the  three  weeks'  hearings  which  the  Joint  Select  Committee 
of  Congress  had  last  October  presented  the  matter  very  fuUy  from 
every  angle  and  with  elaborate  exhibits. 

The  work  of  the  joint  citizens'  committee  has  been  purely  volun- 
tary, in  the  sense  that  no  member  received  the  slightest  compensa- 
tion. I  make  that  statement  because  it  was  thought  necessary  to 
make  it  before  the  joint  select  committee  of  Congress.  We  raised 
in  small  sums,  from  a  large  number  of  citizens,  a  very  considerable 
sum,  about  88,000,  which  was  expended  for  the  purpose  of  gathering 
the  facts  and  putting  them  into  shape  for  the  use  of  the  joint  select 
committee  of  Congress.     We  en^ployed  Mr.  Le  Verne  Beales,  of  the 

45737— IG 15 


226  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

United  States  Census  Bureau,  a  general  statistician  who  had  been 
specially  charged  with  work  in  connection  with  the  bulletin  juiblished  j 
annually  by  the  bureau  on  the  statistics  of  cities;  we  employed  Mr. 
A.  M.  Fisher,  an  expert  statistician,  and  we  employed  other  persons, 
and,  of  course,  we  conducted  a  considerable  correspondence,  in  the 
endeayor  not  only  to  collect  and  collate  all  the  facts  which  the  United 
States  Goyernment  had  and  which  the  District  goyernment  had — 
and  they  were  freely  giyen  to  us  in  response  to  our  recjuests — but  to 
furnish  all  the  information  we  could  get  from  other  American  cities 
and  from  foreign  capitals,  and  also  the  results  of  a  thorough  inyesti- 
gation  made  by  a  subcommittee  of  our  committee  with  res])ect  to 
comparatiye  assessment  and  taxation  here  and  elsewhere.  The 
printed  tables  ])repared  by  our  statisticians  are  comprehensiye  and 
thorough,  and  I  submit  them  in  connection  with  our  brief  for  refer- 
ence by  this  committee. 

We  appreciate  deeply  the  opportunity  which  you  are  giying  us  this 
morning,  but  we  think  that  you  ought  not  to  haye  to  giye  it  to  us. 
We  think  that  with  only  eight  days  remaining  of  the  present  fiscal 
year  and  the  pressure  upon  your  time  in  the  necessary  consideration 
of  the  regular  items  of  the  District  appropriation  bill,  this  matter 
ought  not  to  be  before  you  at  all. 

Senator  Smith.  The  fact  remains  that  it  is  before  us. 

Mr.  Macfarlaxd.  Precisel}-. 

Senator  Smith.  And  the  fact  remains  that  it  is  not  altogether  nec- 
essary to  decide  it  within  that  time;  so  you  might  state  3'our  objec- 
tions without  reference  to  the  time  we  may  haye  in  which  to  do  it, 
because  we  may  take  more  time. 

Mr.  Macfarlaxd.  I  am  only  expressing  to  you  our  gratitude  that 
you  haye  giyen  us  a  hearing  when  you  are  inider  such  pressure;  and 
I  am  idso  begimimg  to  state  that  this  matter  ought  not  to  be  before 
this  committee  at  all  at  any  time,  but  before  the  Committee  on  the 
District  of  Columbia,  where  it  belongs. 

Let  me  remind  the  committee  that  this  yery  rider  abolishing  tlie 
half-and-half  plan  was  rejected  by  this  committee  in  the  last  session 
of  Congress;  and  by  the  Senate  by  a  yote  of  46  to  20.  The  terms  of 
the  rider  placed  upon  the  present  bill  are  substantially  the  same  as 
those  of  the  so-called  Johnson  rider  which  was  defeated  a  year  ago; 
and  the  House  itself,  after  the  conference  committee's  final  report , 
substituted  for  that  rider,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Underwood,  majority  floor 
leader,  the  proyision  for  the  creation  of  a  joint  select  committee  of 
Congress  that  should  inquire  into  and  report  upon  this  matter. 

The  organic  act  of  1878 — so  named  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  in  Eckloff  v.  District  of  Columbia  (135  U.  S.,  240)— 
was  enacted  upon  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  the  District  of 
Columbia,  first  of  the  committee  in  the  House  and  then  of  the  com- 
mittee in  the  Senate.  It  was  the  result  of  consideration  for  four  years 
by  three  joint  committees  of  Congress  and  by  the  regular  Committees 
on  the  District  of  Columbia  of  the  Senate  and  of  the  HouseT  Thos(^ 
joint  committees,  as  in  the  case  of  the  present  joint  committees,  made 
reports;  but  the  legislatiye  committees  of  the  House  and  of  tlie 
Senate  dealt  ^nth  those  reports,  and  matured  the  bill  wliich  was 
finally  enacted  June,  1878. 

That,  of  course,  is  the  process  which  the  rules  of  the  House  and  of 
the  Senate,  as  well  as  the  precedent  of  1878,  dictated  in  the  present 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1017.  227 

case.  The  report  of  the  joint  select  committee  of  Congress  in  the 
present  case  was  made  in  January  last.  It  was  referred  properly 
under  the  rules  to  the  respective  Committees  on  the  District  of 
Columhia.  We  and  all  others,  all  patriotic  Americans  here  and 
elsewhere  who  are  interested  in  the  progress  of  the  National  Capital, 
awaited  the  introduction  of  a  hill,  either  by  some  member  acting 
independently  of  the  joint  select  committee"^of  Congress,  or  by  the 
chairman  or  some  other  member  of  the  Committee  on  the  District  of 
Columbia,  or  by  some  individual  Senator  or  Representative.  We  are 
still  awaiting  some  such  action  as  that.  We  are  still  awaiting  the 
opportunity  to  appear  before  the  House  Committee  on  the  District  of 
Columbia,  which,  so  far  as  we  know,  has  never  taken  an}-  action  on 
that  report  from  that  day  to  this. 

We  beheve  that  the  opportunity  should  be  given,  not  only  to  us  as 
taxpayers,  but  as  national  citizens,  and  to  all  other  Americans  who 
are  interested  in  this  matter,  to  appear  before  the  House  Committee 
on  the  District  of  Columbia  as  to  the  principle  and  as  to  the  details 
of  any  plan  that  may  be  substituted  for  the  existing  half-and-half 
plan.  We  beheve  that  any  such  substitute  shoul  be  adopted  only 
after  the  most  careful  consideration,  as  in  1878,  by  the  legislative 
committees.  We  believe  that  they  should  make  that  consideration 
upon  a  bill  presenting  definitely  a  substitute  plan,  and  that,  as  I  say, 
ample  opportunity  should  be  given  for  its  consideration  in  the  com- 
mittees in  the  House  and  in  the  Senate,  and  for  hearings  of  all  those 
who  are  interested. 

AYliat  do  we  find  instead  of  that  ?  The  House  Committee  on  Appro- 
priations, without  warning,  without  notice  to  anyone,  without  juris- 
diction, on  the  ISth  of  May  last,  on  the  day  on  which  they  reported 
the  present  bill  to  the  House,  adopted  this  rider,  proposed,  of  course, 
by  the  subcommittee  on  the  District  of  Columbia  of  the  Committee 
on  Appropriations.  We  heard  that  morning  by  mere  rumor  that  such 
action  was  contemplated.  Some  of  our  representatives  at  once  came 
up  to  the  Capitol.  We  were  told  that  the  action  had  been  taken, 
and  that  it  was  too  late  to  give  us  even  a  moment's  hearing  in  the 
House  Committee  on  Appropriations.  The  matter  was  immediately 
brought  before  the  Committee  on  Rules  by  a  resolution  offered  by 
the  chairman  of  the  subcommittee  on  the  District  of  Columbia  of  the 
House  Committee  on  Appropriations.  Just  by  the  courtesy  of  the 
Rules  Committee,  under  a  very  short  notice,  half  an  hour's  notice, 
several  of  us  were  permitted  to  express  the  reasons  why  we  thought 
they  should  not  adopt  that  rule.  The  rule  was  adopted  in  the  com- 
mittee b}^  a  vote  of  3  to  2  and  in  the  House  by  a  vote  of  177  to  136; 
and,  as  you  know,  the  rider  was  put  through. 

It  has  been  stated  that  this  action,  thus  taken  without  notice, 
without  deliberation,  without  hearing,  was  the  result,  and  the  logical 
and  inevitable  result,  of  the  report  of  the  joint  select  committee  of 
Congress.  We  deny  that.  There  is  not  one  word  in  the  re}3ort  of 
the  House  Committee  on  Appropriations  to  that  effect.  Here  is  that 
report.  No  reason  is  given  in  it  for  this  radical,  revolutionary  change 
in  the  fundamental  law  of  the  National  Capital,  in  a  principle  vital 
to  the  whole  progress  of  the  National  Capital,  and,  therefore,  in  which 
every  patriotic  American,  whether  he  lives  here  or  anywhere  else, 
has  a  deep  interest. 


228  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

The  fact  is  stated  in  the  report  that  the  change  has  been  made  in 
the  bill,  but  no  reason  whatever  is  given;  and  it  is  perfectly  evident, 
sir,  as  I  think  I  can  show  you  in  a  moment,  that  the  members  of  the 
Committee  on  Appropriations  of  the  House  of  Representatives  never 
read  the  report  of  the  joint  select  committee  of  Congress. 

We  have  that  report  here.  There  it  is,  with  the  hearings,  in  two 
volumes.  Of  course,  the  report  proper  is  a  very  brief  part  of  the 
whole  document.  Here  is  the  report  printed  separately.  The  two 
volumes  indicate,  of  course,  how  thorough,  how  exhaustive,  was  the 
inquiry  made  by  the  joint  select  committee  of  Congress.  It  is  over 
1,750  pages  of  printed  matter.  The  pamphlet  copy  of  the  report 
proper,  with  the  appendix  by  Senator  Works — who  made  a  personal 
separate  examination  of  the  institutions  and  the  needs  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  and  prepared  a  most  instructive  report  upon  his 
own  observations — covers  54  printed  pages. 

Now,  sir,  why  do  I  say  that  I  can  prove  that  the  members  of  the 
Committee  on  Appropriations  of  the  House  did  not  read  this  report, 
which  it  is  now  claimed  was  logically  carried  out  by  the  rider  which 
they  put  on  the  District  appropriation  bill  ?  Because,  sir,  in  that 
rider  as  it  was  reported  by  the  Committee  on  Appropriations  on  the 
18th  of  May  last  to  the  House,  it  was  provided  that  the  interest  on  the 
funded  debt — which  debt  now  amounts  to  about  $6,200,000 — should 
be  paid  in  the  same  manner  as  the  other  appropriations  under  the 
rider  proposed  by  the  committee,  namely,  first  out  of  the  District 
revenues  and  then,  if  anything  was  needed,  out  of  revenues  of  the 
National  Government,  from  the  United  States  Tre<isury.  But,  sir, 
on  page  7  of  the  House  print  of  the  report  of  the  joint  select  committee 
it  is  said,  at  the  bottom  of  the  page  and  the  top  of  the  next  page: 

It  is  our  opinion  that  the  original  intent,  the  understanding  of  Members  of  Congress, 
the  unvarying  practice  of  the  years,  the  jko visions  of  the  various  laws  of  appropriation, 
the  law  definitely  fixing  the  respective  apportionment  of  payment,  and,  above  all,  the 
justice  of  the  matter  as  affecting  the  General  Government,  the  holders  of  the  bonds, 
and  the  District  of  Columbia  lead  certainly  to  the  conclusion  that  the  interest  on  the 
funded  debt  be  continued,  to  be  paid  50  per  cent  from  the  revenues  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  and  50  per  cent  by  appropriation  from  the  moneys  of  the  United  States. 

WTien  that  was  read  to  the  members  of  the  committee  on  the  floor 
of  the  House  they  were  obliged  to  give  up  that  portion  of  their  rider 
that  affected  the  interest  on  the  funded  debt.  But,  sir,  does  it  not 
show  that  the}^  had  not  read  the  report  which  they  claim  they  were 
carrying  out  ? 

That  paragraph  in  the  report,  I  may  say,  was  the  result  of  great 
attention  given  to  that  particular  matter  in  the  hearing  before  the 
joint  select  committee  of  Congress.  You  will  find  pages  and  pages 
of  the  presentation  of  that  matter,  and  it  was  as  important  as  any 
other  feature  in  the  report. 

The  joint  select  committee  of  Congress  made  its  report  ])ursuant  to 
this  paragraph  in  the  District  a])])ropriation  act  of  Congress  ap])roved 
March  3,  1915: 

That  a  joint  select  committee  shall  be  a|)))(iinl('d  .(insisting  of  three  Senators  to  be 
named  by  the  Presiding  Officer  of  tlic  Scnnlc  mid  ihnr  Members  of  the  House  to  be 
named  by  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  l{epn■s(■Ill;lli^■(■s,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to 
prepare  and  submit  to  Congress  a  statement  of  the  proper  proportion  of  the  expenses 
of  the  government  of  the  District  of  Columbia  or  any  branch  thereof,  including  interest 
on  the  funded  debt,  which' shall  be  borne  by  said  District  and  the  United  States, 
respectively,  together  with  the  reasons  upon  which  their  conclusions  may  be  based. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL.  1917.  229 

Tiuit  commit  too  did  not  rocommond  tlio  al)oIition  of  the  half-and- 
half  plan.  All  that  the  committee  said  was  that  in  its  judgment, 
because  of  what  it  thought  were  changed  conditions,  it  "need"  not  be 
continued.  I  call  your  attention  to  that  particular  word  because  it 
is  the  specially  chosen  word  of  the  committee  itself.  They  did  not 
say  "should";  they  said  "need,"  and  they  meant  exactly  what  they 
said.  They  Avero  all  lawA'ers;  they  were  all  perfectly  familiar  with 
the  whole  subject,  and  this  is  what  they  sa}",  on  page  1 1  of  the  report: 

But  -we  think  that  the  conditions  of  to-day  and  of  the  few  years  last  past  are  so 
different  from  the  conditions  of  1878  that  this  arbitrary  rule — a  rule  of  then  seeming 
necessity — need  no  longer  be  appUed  to  District  appropriations. 

That  is  as  far  as  they  went.  They  also  said,  in  the  last  para- 
graph of  the  report,  page  15: 

Our  unanimous  conclusion  is  that  the  rate  of  taxation  in  the  District  should  be 
fixed  and  certain;  that  the  Congress  should  pursue — 

Observe  now  the  particular  words  carefully  chosen  by  these 
gentlemen;  men  of  the  highest  standing  in  both  Houses;  lawyei-s, 
who  had  given  the  most  careful  attention  to  this  matter — 

a  definite  policy  of  regular  and  liberal  appropriations.  ha\dng  in  view  not  only  the 
permanent  moral  and  physical  advancement  of  the  city,  but  also  its  preeminent 
beauty  and  grandeur  as  the  municipal  expression  of  the  Nation's  home  and  its  peoples' 
pride. 

"Defhiite,"  "regular,"    •liberal"  are  the  words. 

That  is  signed,  of  course,  by  every  member  of  the  committee.  In 
addition  to  that.  Senator  Works,  in  his  elaborate  supplemental  state- 
ment, advocated  the  largest  possible  appropriations  for  the  mainte- 
nance, development,  and  beautification  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Sir.  the  whole  spirit  and  tenor  of  this  report  is  that  the  present 
arrangement  shoidd  be  continued  until  a  substitute  plan  ec[ually  sys- 
tematic, ecjually  definite,  equally  fair,  and,  if  possible — that  seemed 
to  be  the  intimation  of  everything  that  they  said — giving  more  from 
the  United  States  Treasury,  rather  than  less,  to  the  development  of 
the  cit}'  of  Washington,  should  be  considered  and  adopted. 

The  members  of  this  committee  will  remember  that  when  the  John- 
son rider,  substantially  similar  to  this  rider,  almost  identical — the 
only  difference  is  verbal — was  considered  in  the  Senate  after  this 
committee  had  reported  against  it,  the  only  arguments  for  it  that 
seemed  to  have  any  substance  whatever  were  those  drawn  from  the 
misleading  Henry  troorge,  jr.,  report  of  August,  1912,  to  the  House, 
to  the  effect  that  the  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia  were  under- 
assessed and  undertaxed,  and  therefore  that  the  taxation  should  be 
increased,  and  that  in  that  event  the  United  States  would  have  to 
pay  nothing,  or  would  have  to  pay  much  less  than  it  was  paying  under 
the  half-and-half  plan.  That,  sir,  was  the  argument  which  carried 
the  day  in  the  House,  under  that  misrepresentation  of  facts,  and  which 
was  maintahied  by  those  Senators  who  supported  the  Johnson  rider 
in  the  Senate.  The  joint  select  committee's  report  completely  de- 
stroys that  argument.  It  accepts  fuUy  the  facts  and  the  contentions 
of  the  joint  citizens'  committee  and  states  expressly  that  the  people 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  are  adequately  taxed  at  this  time,  states 
expressly  that  no  more  than  such  fair  taxation  shoidd  ho  exacted  of 
them,  and  indicates  plainly  that  more  than  one-half,  rather  than  less 
than  one-half,  should  be  contribut.Kl  by  the  United  States.     In  fact, 


230  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATIOX    BILL,  191"! 


it  puts  it  just  the  other  way.  The  United  States  should  take,  as  its 
proper  constitutional  obligation,  the  whole  financial  responsibility 
for  the  development  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  Nation's  city,  the 
Nation's  pride,  in  which  all  the  people  take  an  interest,  and  which 
they  wish  to  see  made  a  model  city — that  is  what  they  say — and  then 
the  people  here  should  pay  simply  fair,  average  taxation,  such  as  is 
paid  tliroughout  the  country  generally,  and  no  more.  The  only 
trouble  with  this  is  that  experience  shows  that  it  will  not  work;  that 
tliere  must  be  a  definite  proportion  of  contribution. 

Just  to  mention  one  fundamental  fact  which  we  trust  you  will 
bear  in  mind  in  all  your  consideration  of  this  matter,  it  was  shown 
to  the  joint  committee  that  the  statement  made  in  the  so-called 
Henry  George,  jr.,  report,  based  on  the  testimony  of  one  witness — a 
so-called  expert  who  got  his  "expert"  knowledge  only  in  that  in- 
quiry— that  the  actual  value  of  the  real  estate  in  the  District  of 
C  olumbia  in  1912  was  $744,000,000,  was  absolutely  untrue.  It  was 
disproved  by  the  conclusive  testimony  which  we  produced  before 
the  joint  select  committee  of  Congress,  not  onl}^  from  the  assessors 
of  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  from  actual  transactions,  thousands 
of  sales,  for  a  period  of  from  tliree  to  five  years  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  inquiry  and  covering  the  period  of  1912-15,  but  from  facts 
given  to  us  by  the  title  insurance  companies  of  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, through  which  now  practically  all  the  transactions  in  real  estate 
pass.  We  were  able  to  show,  from  a  very  large  number  of  sales  in 
all  parts  of  the  city,  that  the  statement  made  in  the  George  report 
was  absolutely  false.  I  do  not  say  it  was  intentionally  false,  but  it 
was  just  as  misleading  as  though  it  had  been.  Upon  that,  sir,  was 
based  the  action  of  the  House  and  the  action  of  those  hi  the  Senate 
who  supported  the  Johnson  rider;  and  that  misleading  statement 
unfortunately  is  still  in  the  minds  of  Memebers  of  the  House  who 
have  not  read  this  report,  as  the  members  of  the  Committee  on 
Appropriations  of  the  House  evidently  have  not  read  it,  and  who  are 
brhiging  forward  this  proposed  abolition  of  the  half-and-half  plan 
with  the  same  old  idea  in  their  minds,  although  they  were  disproveg 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  joint  select  committee  of  Congress,  accordind 
to  their  unanimous  report. 

It  was  shown,  sir,  by  the  assessors  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
acting,  of  course,  under  the  present  administration,  that  the  actual 
valuation  in  1915  was  nearly  $160,000,000  less  than  the  $744,000,000 
stated  in  the  George  committee's  report  as  the  valuation  in  1912,  the 
valuation  of  1915  being  made  three  jeavs  afterwards,  and  on  a  high 
assessment;  the  committee  admits  that.  It  is  not  simply  66 §  per 
cent,  the  two-thirds  assessment  which  is  supposed  to  ])e  the  rule 
here — the  law  says  "not  less  than  two-thirds,"  but  two-thirds  is  sup- 
posed to  be  and  has  been  the  rule  here — but  it  now  averages  over 
70  per  cent,  and  in  many  cases  it  is  over  80  per  cent,  and  in  many 
cases  it  is  over  100  per  cent  of  the  actual  value  of  the  property. 

The  fact  is  established  by  all  the  testimonv  we  furnished,  »ftnd  was 
accepted  by  the  joint  select  committee  of  Congress,  and  with  that 
acceptance  the  argument  for  the  abolition  of  the  half-and-half  plan 
is  absolutely  destroyed.  There  is  nothing  left.  It  is  true  that  the 
members  of  the  joint  select  committee  of  Congress,  or  some  of  tliem, 
notably  Senator  Works,  had  the  idea  that  the  United  States  was 
paying  so  little  compared  to  what  it  ought  to  pay  under  the  half- 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL^  1917.  231 

and-half  plan  that  if  the  half-and-half  plan  should  be  abohshod  it 
miii'ht  pay  a  groat  deal  more — two-thircls,  or  any  amount  that  was 
necessary  in  any  year  and  in  every  year  for  the  orderly  progress  of 
the  development  of  the  Capital.  It  was  a  generous  thought  on  their 
part.  They  did  not  see,  however,  that  with  the  abolition  of  the  rule 
deliberately  adopted  by  Congress,  imposing  a  delinite  obligation  on 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  represented  by  Congress— the 
whole  matter  of  appropriations  for  the  District  of  Columbia  would  be 
left  in  confusion,  anU  the  "whim  and  caprice"  (to  use  a  phrase  which 
was  used  by  Representative  Blackburn  in  reporting  the  bill  in  1878) 
''of  each  recurring  session  of  Congress"'  would  determine  whether  the 
United  States  should  contribute  10  per  cent  or  20  per  cent  or  50  per 
cent,  or  whether  it  should  contribute  anything  for  that  year,  leaving 
also,  as  he  said,  the  question  of  taxation  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
not  "fixed  and  certain,"  as  the  joint  select  committee  recommends 
that  it  shall  be,  but  unfixed  and  uncertain:  because  it  may  very  well 
be  that  the  taxation  would  have  to  be  increased  in  order  to  provide 
sufficient  revenue  to  meet  what  a  particular  session  of  Congress 
thought  might  be  the  duty  of  the  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

We  were  able  to  show,  sir.  to  the  joint  select  committee  of  Con- 
gress, in  great  detail,  a  comparison  of  the  assessment  and  taxation 
of  the  city  of  Washington  with  those  of  the  other  cities  of  the  United 
States.  We  were  able  to  show  from  the  census  bulletins,  summarized 
in  this  particular  exhibit  here  by  Mr.  Le  Yerne  Beales,  of  the  Census 
Bureau,  in  a  perfectly  impartial  manner — no  one  questioned  that  at 
all — that  we  paid  here  per  capita  a  higher  tax  levy  than  most  other 
cities,  and  that  is  the  rule  that  the  Census  Bureau  adopts  as  the 
best,  namely,  the  combined  rate  and  the  assessment.  It  is  the  only 
fair  rule.  You  can  not  divorce  one  from  the  other  without  pro- 
ducing confusion  of  thought  and  misleading  statements;  and  that, 
of  course,  has  been  done  by  some  men  for  the  very  purpose  of  bring- 
ing about  the  aboUtion  of  the  half-and-half  plan.  Just  as  they  have 
disingenuously  used  the  ever  more  fallacious  method  of  comparison 
by  estimated  relationship  between  assessed  and  real  values.  We 
were  able  to  show  that  the  tax  levy,  the  rate  and  assessment  com- 
bined, was  higher  per  capita  in  the  District  of  Columbia  than  in  155 
of  the  199  cities  having  more  than  30,000  population  in  1913,  as  re- 
ported in  Census  Bulletin  No.  126,  containing  the  municipal  statistics 
of  cities  of  that  class  in  the  United  States. 

I  emphasize  this  because,  gentlemen,  it  is  the  very  crux  of  the 
whole  matter.  If  you  accept  the  report  of  the  joint  select  committee 
of  Congress  as  to  the  fairness  and  adecjuacy  of  the  assessment  and 
taxation  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  you  reject  by  that  very  fact 
the  only  substantial  argum:^nt  that  has  ever  been  made  for  the 
abolition  of  the  half-and-half  plan. 

Now  we  are  brought  to  this  situation:  After  Congress  has  deter- 
mined that  the  half-and-half  plan  shall  not  be  abolished  for  the 
reasons  which  I  have  just  mentioned,  and  has  created  a  joint  select 
committee  to  investigate  the  whole  matter,  and  that  committee  in  a 
most  seK-denying  and  patriotic  way  has  taken  time  and  given  thought 
to  an  inc[uiry  into  the  whole  matter,  and  has  furnish(>d  Congress 
not  only  with  its  conclusions  but  with  the  testimony  which  was  taken, 
it  is  proposed,  at  the  end  of  a  session,  at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year, 
without   hearing,  without  deliberation,  without  even  consideration 


232  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

of  the  roport  of  the  joint  select  committee  of  Congress,  by  a  com- 
niitteo  in  another  body  which  has  no  jurisdiction  of  tliis  matter 
under  the  rules  of  the  House,  while  we  are  awaiting  and  hare  a  right 
to  await  possible  action  l)y  the  House  Committee  on  the  District  of 
Columbia,  to  abolish  the  present  plan  by  this  rider  on  an  appropria- 
tion bill;  and  the  only  opportunity  wo  have  is  to  appear  before  you, 
and,  in  this  hurried  and  imperfect  manner,  due  to  the  circumstances — 
for  wo  deeply  appreciate  your  courtesy  in  the  pressure  that  is  upon 
you — to  present  the  mere  outline  of  what  we  ought  to  have  the 
opportunity  of  presenting  fully,  in  a  deliberate  consideration  of  the 
matter,  according  to  precedent,  and  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
House,  to  the  proper  legislative  committees  of  the  Senate  and  the 
House. 

A  special  committee  of  the  board  of  trade,  of  wliich  Mr.  Theodore 
W.  Noyes — who  unfortunately  is  not  able  to  be  here  to-day — is  the 
chairman,  and  of  which  I  am  the  vice  chairman,  and  in  Ms  absence 
the  acting  chairman,  reported,  and  the  board  of  trade  unanimously 
adopted,  on  the  25th  of  May,  1916,  a  report  on  this  subject  which  is  a 
very  careful  analysis  of  the  report  of  the  joint  select  committee  of 
Congress  with  reference  to  the  proposition  in  this  rider.  If  you  have 
not  had  an  opportunity  to  read  it,  I  beg  that  before  you  pass  upon 
this  question  you  will  read  this  report,  copies  of  which  I  shall  furnish 
to  each  member  of  the  committee. 

Col.  A.  S.  Worthington,  of  our  committee,  known  to  you  all  as  one 
of  the  leaders  of  our  bar,  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  United 
States,  and  one  of  the  most  public  spii-ited  of  our  citizens,  unfortu- 
nately was  called  to  New  York  night  })efore  last,  and  so  is  not  able 
to  be  present  this  morning.  It  would  l)e  very  gratif^dng  to  us  if  he 
might  be  given  an  opportunity  to  be  heard  before  you  c<jnclude  this 
inc{uiry.     If  not,  however,  I  know  I  can  say  that  he  believes  that  our 

f)osition  is  impregnable,  after  the  most  thorough  consideration.  He, 
ike  some  of  the  rest  of  us,  has  given  many  of  his  niglits  and  much  of 
his  days  to  this  specific  question,  ever  since  Congress  created  the  join 
select  committee  of  Congress;  and  he  with  Mr.  Noyes,  and  myself, 
appeared  for  the  joint  citizens'  committee  before  the  joint  select  com- 
mittee of  Congress.  We  agree  perfectly  that  in  the  legal  aspects  of 
this  matter,  as  in  all  other  respects,  our  position  is  ijupregnable;  and 
believe  that  if  you  will  examine  and  will  have  other  Senators  examine 
this  report  of  the  special  committee  of  the  board  of  trade  and  this 
brief  and  our  arguments,  so  as  to  see  those  things  which  I  am  not  able, 
in  this  necessarily  brief  hearing,  to  present  to  you  in  detail,  you  and 
they  wiU  agree  with  us  that  our  position  can  not  be  successfully 
assailed. 

1  will  say  that  in  this  brief  you  will  find  quotcMl  tlie  opinions  of  the 
great  men  in  Congr(>ss  of  the  time  of  1S74  and  1S7S — Mr.  Bayard, 
Mr.  Thurman,  Mr.  Allison  (so  long  the  chairman  of  this  conunittee), 
Mr.  Garfield,  ISIr.  Hunlon,  and  others  in  the  Senate  and  the  House — 
in  which  irrc^futable  reasons  are  given  why  this  matter  slundd  be 
governed  by  a  fixed  proportion — arbitrary,  yes,  but  inevitably 
arbitrary,  because  there  is  no  possible  method  of  making  it  exact. 
Th(^  amount  which  the  Government  receives  in  b  'nefit  from  the 
municipal  expenditure  here,  recognized  as  great,  recognized  by  the 
joint  select  connnittee  of  Congress  as  affecting  it  in  every  possible 
way  and   as  coining  from  every  department   of  the  municipal  gov- 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  233 

ernmont,  can  not  bo  accurately  (lotorinined.  The  two'  things — the 
benefit  to  the  citizens  from  the  municipal  services  and  the  benefit  to 
the  Government — are  so  interwgven  that  they  can  not  be  disen- 
tangled. Neither  can  we  ascertain  the  exact  value  of  the  property 
owned  by  the  Government  and  therefore  exempt  from  taxation. 
^Ye  know  it  is  large.  It  is  estimated  by  the  present  assessor  at  over 
$394,000,000,  which  is  over  the  amount  of  the  assessed  value  of  the 
private  property.  The  entire  value  of  the  Government  property, 
not  two-thirds,  is  about  $394,888,409,  according  to  his  report,  and 
the  assessed  value  of  the  property  privately  owned  is  $390,309,278. 
But  whatever  it  may  be,  we  know  that  it  is  a  very  large  amount, 
and  in  the  very  heart  of  the  city,  the  very  best  of  the  real  estate, 
and  increasing  in  amount,  so  decreasing  the  taxable  area. 

Those  elements  can  not  bo  accurately  determined.  The  half-and- 
half  plan  is  like  the  arrangement  which  is  commonly  made  between 
two  partners.  They  can  not  estimate  exactly  the  contribution  of 
each  in  services  and  in  money,  so  they  say,  ''50-50;  we  will  just 
divide  half  and  half;"  and  it  was  unquestionably  for  that  reason  that 
committee  after  committee,  after  profound  consideration  of  the 
matter  from  1874  to  1878,  reported  in  favor  of  that  particular  pro- 
portion.    Cogent  reasons  are  given  for  an  exact  proportion. 

I  call  especial  attention  to  what  Senator  Allison  said  in  the  report 
of  the  Joint  Select  Committee  on  the  16th  of  June,  1874: 

For  the  protection  of  the  Government  it  is  essential  that  some  fixed,  unvarying 
rule  should  be  established  for  the  ascertainment  of  what  the  Government  should 
contribute  toward  the  expenses  of  this  District.  Without  it,  an  appropriation  com- 
mittee mil  always  be  likely  to  be  misled  into  improper  allowances. 

And  the  House  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  in  1874,  referring  to 
the  same  subject,  said: 

■    As  to  the  third  and  last  branch  of  the  resolution,  asking  whether  some  accurately 
defined  basis  of  expenditure  can  not  be  prescribed  and  maintained  by  law,  your 
committee  remark  that  they  believe  this  to  be  of  paramount  importance,  both  to  the 
Federal  and  local  goAernment . 
Tliere  never  has  been,  since  the  location  of  the  Capitol  at  this  place — 

This  was  on  the  1st  of  June,  1874 — 

any  consistency  or  even  intelligence  in  the  adjustment  of  these  expenditures. 

That,  Senators,  is  what  we  are  asked  to  go  back  to  now.  It  is  a 
recurrence  to  a  hit-or-miss,  unsystematic,  unsatisfactory  system, 
involving  ultimate  bankruptcy,  from  w^hich  Congress  extricated  the 
District  of  Columbia  as  the  result  of  its  inquiries  in  1874  to  1878. 
The  same  House  Committee  on  the  Judiciary,  of  which  Mr.  Poland  of 
Vermont  was  the  chairman,  in  its  report,  June  1,  1874,  says: 

It  is  believed  that  it  will  be  much  wiser  and  much  more  economical,  both  to  the 
National  and  local  governments,  to  fix  upon  a  definite  sum  or  proportion  to  be  contrib- 
uted by  both,  and  that  it  is  more  important — 

And  we  emphasize  this  sentence — 

that  these  appropriations  should  be  made  regularly  and  upon  some  well-defined 
principle  than  that  they  should  be  large. 

If  the  United  States  Treasury  is  poor,  cut  down  the  total  of  the 
appropriation  for  this  year  or  any  year  rather  than  depart  from  the 
principle.  Do  not  sacrifice  the  principle  to  temporary  advantage 
in  any  year.     Do  not  abandon  certainty  for  uncertainty. 


234  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

The  needs  of  the  National  Capital  call  for  much  larger  ap}3ropria- 
tions,  as  the  joint  committee  of  Congress  reports,  and  especially  as 
the  statement  of  Senator  Works,  based  on  his  personal  examination, 
shows.  This,  as  a  great  capital,  on  a  magnificent  scale,  and  in  order 
that  it  may  be  a  model  city,  is  in  need  of  appropriations  of  at  least 
double  the  District  revenues. 

But  a  mere  increase  in  the  total  appropriations  of  this  bill  without 
striking  out  the  rider  would  leave  the  matter  where  it  would  have 
been  if  the  Johnson  rider  had  been  adopttnl  last  year  without  any  pro- 
vision for  definite  and  regular  a])pro])riations  in  the  future.  It 
would  tear  out  an  essential' part  of  the  fabric  of  government  related 
to  many  statutes  besides  the  act  of  1878  without  substituting  any- 
thing for  it,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  National  Capital. 

In  this  connection  let  me  say  that  the  so-called  ''surpluses"  of  Dis- 
trict tax  money  in  recent  successive  years  over  one-half  of  the  Dis- 
trict appropriations  are  artificial,  not  genuine. 

The  District  taxes  have  by  assessment  been  unduly  increased;  the 
ap|)ropriations,  on  the  other  hand,  have  been  cut  much  below  the 
point  of  meeting  the  District's  necessities. 

The  commissioner's  estimate  since  1909  no  longer  represent  the  real 
needs  of  the  District.  The  restrictive  law  of  1909  prevents  theiu 
from  presenting  the  municipal  necessities  of  Washington  and  should 
be  repealed. 

Congress  should  consistently  ap])ro])riate  more  liberally  for  the 
u])building  of  the  Ca))ital. 

The  half-and-half  law  should  be  maintained  and  supplementary 
legislation  disposing  of  surpluses  or  deficits  arising  umhn-  its  operation 
should  be  enacted,  so  that  these  surpluses  and  deficits,  if  any  occur, 
may  offset  one  another  in  a  series  of  years,  always  keeping  any  Dis- 
trict surplus  for  strictly  District  purposes. 

If  at  any  time  in  the  future  a  condition  shall  develop  when  a 
doubling  of  the  District  revenues  as  at  present  calculated  shall  pro- 
duce a  larger  amount  than  can  be  wisely  and  economically  expended 
upon  the  Capital,  such  surplus  can  be  easily  prevented  by  omitting 
from  consideration  as  District  revenue  for  doubling  purpose  under  the 
law  the  District  revenues  from  licenses,  and  es])e('ially  liquor  licenses. 

Now,  sir,  I  realize  how  inadequate  this  presentation  lias  been  neces- 
sary under  the  circumstances.  They  strikingly  illustrate  the  reason 
of  the  rides  of  Congress  that  general  legislation  shoultl  be  considered 
by  the  committees  on  legislation  and  not  by  the  committees  on  appro- 
priations. I  wish  that  Col.  Worthington  and  Mi".  Noyes,  who  were 
my  associates  before  the  joint  select  committee  of  Congress,  could 
have  been  here  to-day,  when  I  realize  the  importances  of  this  matter, 
not  simply  to  us  who  are  now  living  but  to  all  the  future  of  the 
National  Capital.  Because,  sir,  unless  the  Capital's  progress  is 
orderlv,  systematic,  by  a])propriations  in  proper  proportion  from  year 
to  year  and  according  to  a  dehnite  plan,  it  will  be  profoinuUy  affected: 
it  will  be  greatlv  set  back;  it  will  be  absolutelv  unsatisfactorv  asrbefore 
1878. 

Not  only  as  a  taxpayer-  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  not  oidy  as  a 
national  citizen  of  the  District  of  Cohnn])ia,  like  my  feUow  citizens 
here  paying  my  fidl  shan^  through  the  tariff  and  through  the  interiial- 
n^vemie  tax,  and  even  a  little  through  the  income  tax  to  the  National 
Treasury,  and  thereby  contributing  my  full  share  to  every  nutio.-al 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  235 

buildino;,  everything  constructetl  hero  wholly  out  of  the  revenue  of 
the  United  States,  but,  sir,  in  some  sense,  as  I  believe  I  have  a  right 
to  speak,  for  all  patriotic  Americans  from  a  very  wide  acquaintance 
over  the  United  States,  derived  in  part  during  my  oflicial  cxj^erioncc 
as  a  Commissioner  of  the  District  of  Columbia  from  1900  to  li)l(), 
when  I  met  thousands  of  representative  persons  from  all  the  States  of 
the  Union  here,  and  when  occasioiially,  as  I  could  get  away,  traveling 
bv  night.  I  was  able  to  speak  to  representative  bodies  of  them  in  some 
o^  the  principal  cities  of  the  Ur.ited  States — I  believe  I  haA^e  a  right 
to  say.  sir,  that  the  joint  select  committee  of  Congress  is  precisely- 
right 'when  it  says  that  this  is  the  municipal  expression  not  only  of 
the  Nation's  home,  with  its  absolute  sovereignty  under  the  Constitu- 
tion, with  its  absolute  control,  with  its  exclusion  of  everything  that  is 
not  suitable  in  a  governmental  city  (as,  for  example,  industries  and 
commerce  which  might  bring  us  in  larger  tax  revenues),  but  that  it 
is  the  municipal  expression  of  the  ''people's  pride." 

We  have  a  right  to  say  that  we  are  part  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  The  District  of  Columbia  has  done  its  full  duty,  not  only 
thi'ough  tax  contributions  to  the  National  Treasury,  larger  per  capita 
than  those  of  many  of  the  States,  in  peace  and  in  war,  for  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  ever  since  the  first  gift  of  five  sixths  of 
original  Washington  by  the  19  proprietors.  Yesterday,  sir,  we  saw 
2.000  of  the  best  of  our  young  men  marching  to  Fort  Myer  in  prompt 
and  efficient  response  to  the  call  of  the  President,  and  reviewed 
and  praised  by  him:  and  we  were  reminded  that  in  the  Civil  War  the 
District  of  Columbia  gave  more  than  its  quota,  of  volunteers,  and 
more  in  proportion  than  any  except  five  of  the  States  of  the  l^nion, 
to  the  support  of  the  Government :  and  we  were  reminded  that  in  the 
Spanish  War  it  gave  more  than  its  proportion,  as  it  has  done  now. 
We  remember  that  in  peace  the  District  people  have  done  more  than 
all  others  for  the  National  Capital,  and  always  their  full  civic  duty. 
I  say  this  because  we  are  sometimes  referred  to  as  lacking  in  public 
spirit.  It  is  sometimes  said,  even,  that  we  are  mendicants;  that  we 
are  mercenary:  always  begging  of  Congress.  Think,  sir,  how  you 
-would  like  to  have  that  said  about  you,  if  you,  like  us,  were  abso- 
lutely under  the  sovereignty  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

We  are  glad  to  be  under  its  government.  But,  sir,  if  you  were 
deprived  of  the  suffrage,  and  thereby  of  representation  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  (and  only  national  suffrage  and  full  representa- 
tion in  both  Houses  would  do),  the  body  which  fixed  your  taxation 
and  made  the  appropriation  of  your  money,  and  made  all  your  laws; 
think,  sir,  how  you  would  like  to  have  it  said  b}'  those  in  high  places, 
to  whom  you  could  not  make  reply  in  the  forum  where  they  spoke, 
that  you  were  lacking  in  patriotism,  in  civic  spirit,  and  in  your 
patriotic  duty.     You  will  then  appreciate  our  indignant  denial. 

Senators,  we  say  to  you,  exercising  this  morning  the  light  of  peti- 
tion— the  right  that  is  certainly  ours  under  the  Constitution — that 
we  leave  this  all  important  matter  with  you  with  full  confidence  in 
your  wisdom  and  justice,  and  with  many  thanks  for  the  opportunity. 

Mr.  Braxdexburg.  I  would  like  to  say  just  a  word  in  behalf  of  the 
board  of  trade,  supplementing  what  Mr.  Macfarland  has  said. 


236  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    ArPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  EDWIN  C.  BRANDENBURG,  PRESIDENT 
OF  THE  WASHINGTON  BOARD  OF  TRADE. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  represent  the  Washington  Board 
of  Trade  ? 

Mr.  Beandenburg.  Yes;  I  am  the  president  of  the  Washington 
Board  of  Trade. 

jMerely  supplementing  the  remarks  of  Mi-.  Macfarland,  I  want  to 
say  that  the  organization  I  represent  consists  of  1,500  of  the  most 
representative  of  the  business  and  professional  men  of  the  city  of 
Washington.  We  represent  no  clique,  no  class,  no  particular  parts 
of  the  city,  but  the  sole  object  and  the  sole  thing  we  have  in  mind  in 
the  board  of  trade  is  the  upbuilding  of  the  Capital  of  the  United 
States.  Therefore,  you  may  readily  assume  that  we  are  absolutely 
disinterested  except  from  the  standpoint  of  what  is  for  the  best  inter- 
ests of  our  city. 

I  want  to  go  a  step  further  than  Mr.  Macfarland.  He  suggested  to 
you  that  if  necessary,  if  needs  be,  you  reduce  the  amount  of  the  appro- 
priation, so  that  you  will  not  destroy  this  half-and-half  principle.  I 
go  even  a  step  further  as  the  representative  of  this  organization,  which 
backs  me  in  my  statements,  and  that  is  that  we  trust  that  you  will  per- 
mit this  bill  to  fail  before  you  will  permit  this  very  obnoxious  provision 
to  become  a  law.  We  say  this  for  the  reason  that  this  proposition  to 
repeal  the  organic  act  arose  and  grew  out  of  wrong  information  that 
was  commun,icated  to  Congress.  The  claim  was  made  that  we  were 
underassessed,  undertaxed,  and  that  if  properly  taxed  sufficient  could 
be  raised  to  meet  all  the  expense  of  the  District  government. 

The  joint  select  committee  of  Congress  carefully  considered  this 
matter,  and  they  reached  this  conclusion,  and  I  want  to  read  just 
very  briefly  a  few  lines  from  their  report: 

That  the  present  assessment  valuation  of  privately  owned  real  estate  in  Washington 
is  fair  and  reasonable;  the  payment  of  taxes  on  real  estate  from  the  assessments  as 
they  are  now  constituted  is  a  fair  and  reasonable  response  in  such  taxation  for  municipal 
benefits  received  by  the  citizens  of  the  District. 

Then,  again: 

The  annual  tax  in  Washington  is  approximately  $16  per  capita.  In  the  judgment 
of  your  committee  this  is  a  reasonable  tax  levy  at  this  time,  especially  when  we  con- 
sider, as  we  must,  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  population  here  pays  but  a  small 
amount  of  the  taxes  imposed. 

And  I  want  to  say  that  so  far  as  the  per  capita  tax  is  concerned 
it  is  the  result  of  comparisons  made  from  many  cities  throughout 
the  United  States,  and  there  are  only  a  very  few  with  a  larger  per 
capita  tax  than  we  have,  and  the  reasons  will  become  apparent  if 
you  examine  this  report  of  the  joint  committee  of  Congress. 

Senator  Works,  in  his  report,  adds: 

The  people  of  the  District  are  not  undertaxed.  They  are,  in  my  judgment,  bearing 
their  full  share  of  the  burden  of  the  expenses  of  the  District.  Just  now  *  *  *  i 
think  they  are  being  taxed  too  high.  >- 

With   this  before   this  committee,  we   hisist   that   any  indefinite 

{)lan  of  contribution  such  as  is  proposed  in  the  present  bill  is  abso- 
utely  obnoxious  and  vicious  so  far  as  the  District  is  concerned.  If 
this  Congress,  and  if  the  House  of  Representatives, even  a  few  months 
after  the  presentation  of  this  report  of  the  joint  committee,  see  fit 


prese 
the  pi 


to  make  the  plan  of  contribution  70  per  cent  to  30  per  cent,  namely, 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1!)17.  237 

that  the  District  shall  contribute  70  per  cent  and  the  National  Govern- 
ment 30  per  cent,  when  this  matter  is  fresh  in  the  minds  of  Congress, 
what  is  going  to  become  of  it  m  a  few  years  when  the  matter  becomes 
staled  Therefore,  we  plead  in  behalf  of  the  cit}^  of  Washington,  of 
the  property  holders,  and  of  the  taxpayers,  that  you  do  not  permit 
this  law  to  be  repealed  by  a  rider.  If  it  is  necessary  to  repeal  this 
law.  let  it  come  up  under  a  proper  bill,  let  the  necessary  hearings 
be  had;  let  the  matter  be  properly  considered. 

You  gentlemen  are  our  representatives.  We  have  no  one  to  appeal 
to:  we  have  no  one  whom  we  can  call  to  account  if  they  do  not 
respond  to  our  demands,  and  we  are  therefore  absolutely  dependent 
upon  you  and  your  assistance;  and,  therefore,  in  conclusion,  in 
behalf  of  the  Washington  Board  of  Trade,  we  plead  that  you,  sirs, 
let  this  bill  fail  sooner  than  to  admit  it  with  this  provision  in  it. 
I  thank  you. 

I  would  like,  if  you  will  permit  me,  to  insert  as  a  portion  of  my 
remarks  this  very  short  report  of  our  board,  which  has  been  very 
carefulh'  considered  by  15  of  the  representative  men  of  Washington. 
I  would  simply  like  to  add  this  as  a  part  of  my  remarks. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Very  well. 

(The  matter  presented  by  Mr.  Brandenburg  is  as  follow^s:) 

No  Repeal  of  Half-and-Half  Law  of  1878  by  Rider  on  District  Appropriation 

Bill. 

[Report  of  special  committee  of  the  Wa*ington  Board  of  Trade  on  immediate  fiscal  legislation  for  the 
District  of  Columbia.  Adopted  unanimously  by  the  board  of  trade  May  25,  1916.  Presented  by  Theo- 
dore W.  Noye^  chairman:  D.  J.  Callahan,  E.  F.  CoUaday,  J.  Harry  Cunninghap-,  John  Joy  Ed<^on, 
C.J.  Gockeler,  R.N.Harper,  John  B.  Lamer,  H.  B.  F.  Maefarland,  James  F.  Oyster,  Odell  S.  Smith, 
Corcoran  Thom,  George  Truesdell,  A.  S.  Worthington,  E.  C.  Brandenburg,  ex  officio,  committee] 

JOINT  congressional  committee's  report  does  not  recommend  unconditional 
repeal,  but  in  effect  prohibits  it^joint  committee  urges  that  congress 
pursue  a  definite  policy  of  regular  and  liberal  district  of  COLUMBIA  appro- 
priations, and  holds  that  the  district  now  pays  enough  and  the  nation  too 
little  for  capital  upbuilding. 

The  pending  District  appropriation  bill  unconditionally  repeals  by  indirection  the 
half-and-half  pro\-ision  of  the  organic  act  of  1878  and  substitutes  nothing  in  its  place. 
It  leaves  local  taxation  and  capital  contribution  fluctuating  and  uncertain.  It 
renders  the  national  contribution  for  capital  upbuilding  indefinite,  irregular,  and 
illiberal.  It  proposes  that  the  nation  for  1917  pay  30  per  cent  instead  of  50  per  cent 
of  the  District  appropriation;  and  that  the  District  residents  pay  70  per  cent  instead 
of  50  per  cent.  It  confiscates  for  the  nation  the  unappropriated  surplus  of  District 
tax  money  over  its  half  proportion  under  existing  law — a  surplus  which  should  be 
held  in  trust  for  the  District  to  meet  its  needs  in  some  future  "lean"  year. 

The  pending  appropriation  bill,  which  (May  26,  1916)  has  just  passed  the  House, 
does  these  things  on  the  assumption  that  the  "report  of  the  congressional  joint  fiscal 
committee  is  thereby  carried  out. 

But  the  report  of  the  joint  committee  recommends  none  of  these  things.  It  does 
not  urge  the  unconditional  repeal  of  the  half-and-half  law.  It  holds  that  local  taxa- 
tion should  be  fixed  and  certain  and  that  Congress  should  pursue  a  definite  policy  of 
regular  and  liberal  District  appropriations;  that  the  District  now  pays  enough  and 
the  Nation  too  little  for  capital  upbuilding.  If  the  pending  appropriation  bill  called 
for  70  per  cent  from  the  Nation  and  only  30  per  cent  from  the  District  instead  of  the 
reverse  it  would  have  been  more  in  conformity  with  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  joint 
committee's  report. 

These  facts  are  set  forth  in  the  report  recently  adopted  by  the  unanimous  vote  of 
the  board  of  trade's  special  committee  on  immediate  fiscal  legislation,  composed  of 
Theodore  W.  Noves,  chairman;  D.  J.  Callahan,  E.  F.  Colladay,  J.  Ilarry  Cunningham, 
John  Joy  Edson,'C.  J.  Gockeler,  R.  N.  Harper,  John  B.  Larner,  H.  B.  F.  Maefarland, 
James  F.  Oyster,  Odell  S.  Smith,  Corcoran  Thom,  George  Truesdell,  A.  S.  Worthing- 
ton, and  E.  C.  Brandenburg  ex  officio. 


238  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917, 

This  report  analyzes  the  joint  congressional  committee's  report  and  bases  thereon 
an  earnest  protest  to  Congress  against  just  such  legislation  as  that  proposed  in  the 
pending  District  appropriation  bill. 

On  May  25,  191G,  the  Washington  Board  of  Trade,  in  regular  meeting  assembled, 
enthusiastically  adopted  by  the  unanimous  rising  vote  of  over  500  members  present 
the  report  of  its  special  committee  on  immediate  fiscal  legislation.     It  reads  as  follows: 

REPORT    OF    COMJUTTEE    OX    FISCAL    LEGISLATION. 

To  leave  undone  the  things  legislative  which  ought  not  to  be  done  is  as  vitally 
important  as  to  do  that  which  ought  to  be  done. 

I. 

What  legislation  then  should  not  be  enacted  on  the  basis  of  the  report  of  the  joint 
congressional  fiscal  committee? 

There  should  be  (1)  no  repeal  outright  of  the  half-and-half  law  on  the  theory  or  in 
the  belief  that  the  joint  committee's  report  abolishes  it  or,  on  the  whole,  recommends 
its  unconditional  abolition. 

(2)  No  repeal  of  the  half-and-half  law  by  rider  on  an  appropriation  bill  as  proposed 
by  such  amendment  in  the  last  Congress.  This  amendment  raised  the  issue  between 
Hoiise  and  Senate  which  led  to  the  creation  of  the  joint  congressional  committee. 
This  issue  was  whether  the  half-and-half  law  was  fair  to  the  Nation.  The  joint  com- 
mittee says  it  is  fair. 

(3)  No  repeal  of  the  half-and-half  law  in  any  way  which  fails  to  substitute  for  it  a 
carefully  considered  system  under  which  District  taxation  is  fixed  and  certain,  and 
under  which  Congress  shall  "pursue  a  definite  policy  of  regular  and  liberal  appro- 
priations" for  capital  maintenance  and  development. 

(4)  This  substitute  for  the  half-and-half  law,  if  one  is  proposed,  should  be  thoroughly 
discussed  by  the  District  committees  and  carefully  considered  by  both  Houses  o"f 
Congress  in  order  to  be  certain  that  it  protects  the  Capital's  equities  and  provides  the 
just  safeguards  against  excessive  taxation  which  the  half-and-half  law  provides;  and 
without  this  thorough  preliminary  discussion  and  consideration  no  repealing  sub- 
stitute should  be  enacted. 

NO    REPEAL    URGED    BY    COMMITTEE. 

The  joint  committee  was  directed  to  determine  "the  proper  proportion  of  the  ex- 
penses of  the  government  of  the  District  of  Columbia  *  *  *  which  shall  be  borne 
by  said  District  and  the  United  States,  respectively,  together  with  the  reasons  upon 
which  their  conclusions  may  be  based." 

The  investigations  of  the  committee  disclosed  the  utter  impossibility  of  measuring 
in  terms  of  exact  percentage  figures  the  relative  capital  obligations  of  the  District  and 
of  the  United  States  and  of  specifying  conclusive  reasons  for  any  precise  percentage 
figures. 

The  committee  therefore,  unable  to  give  to  Congress  exact  proportionate  contribu- 
tion figures  backed  by  specific  reasons,  as  directed,  reported  that  "there  is  no 
reason  for  any  arbitraiy  rule  of  proportionate  contribution  for  the  expenses  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  by  the  residents  thereof,  and  by  the  people  of  the  United  States 
■who  reside  outside  of  the  District  of  Columbia." 

The  committee  finds  that  the  organic  act  of  1878  "was  conceived  as  an  economic 
necessity"  and  "was  justified  by  the  exigencies  of  the  time  and  the  conditions  of  that 
day,"  but  that  "the  conditions  of  to-day  and  of  the  few  years  last  past  are  so  different 
from  the  conditions  of  1878  that  this  arbitrary  rule — a  rule  of  then  seeming  necessity^ 
need  no  longer  be  applied  to  District  appropriations." 

NATIONAL   CONTRIHUTION    STILL  NEEDED. 

What  are  the  changes  in  conditions  which  cause  the  committee  to  think  tliat  an 
arbitrary  half-and-half  rule  may  not  be  necessary  to-day?  "" 

The  ctmimittee  indicates  these  changes.  The  District  had  in  1878  less  than  half  its 
present  population,  and  was  then  weighed  down  by  a  heavy  burden  of  debt,  which 
has  now  been  largely  paid.  The  District  no  longer  needs,  the  committee  thinks,  to  be 
compelled  by  law  to  bear  its  proper  share  of  tlie  burden.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
National  Government,  the  committee  indicates,  has  since  1878  recognized  "the 
splendid  utility  and  beauty  of  the  city  planned  on  a  national  base;"  it  has  erected 
many  buildings  "of  the  very  highest  standard  of  architecture;"  it  has  acquired  more 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUIMBIA    APPROPKIATIOX    BILL,  11)17.  239 

and  more  land  every  year,  holding  it  for  slriotly  governmental  luiipc^e.-^.  and  with- 
drawing it  from  participation  in  assessment  and  taxation;  its  "increasing  needs 
*  *  *  in  this,  its  central  home,  demand,  and  will  continue  to  demand,  more  land, 
more  buildings,  more  reservations."  In  otiier  words,  the- capital  land  holdings  of  the 
Nation  and  its  reasonable  pride  in  the  beautiful  city  which  it  has  developed  have  so 
increased  since  1878  that  the  compulsion  of  an  arbit'raiy  law  is  not  ucce.'^saiy  to  cause 
the  Nation,  through  Congress,  to  bear  half  (or  even  more  than  half)  the  burden  of 
Capital  upbuilding. 

The  committee  does  not  find  that  the  Capital  no  longer  needs  the  national  half  con- 
tribution. On  the  contrary,  the  committee  clearly  indicates  that  the  national  half 
contribution  is  needed  more  than  ever,  and  should,  if  .altered,  be  increased.  The 
need  of  more  than  a  half  contribution  by  the  Nation  is  affirmed:  only  the  need  of  a  law 
to  compel  at  least  this  half-contribution  is  denied. 

In  the  last  Congress,  when  the  joint  congressional  committee  was  created,  there  was 
a  struggle  over  the  question  whether  the  half-and-half  law  should  be  killed  as  unfair 
or  remain  in  force  pending  the  report  of  the  joint  committee.  It  was  decided  that  it 
should  remain  alive,  and  it  is  to-day  unrepealed  and  in  full  force  and  effect  among  our 
statutes. 

If  the  half-and-half  law  had  been  repealed  at  that  time  and  the  function  of  the  joint 
committee  was  to  report  a  new  definite  proportionate  contribution  for  adoption,  very 
clearly  the  indefinite  contribution  system  would,  in  the  light  of  the  committee's  re- 
port, necessarily  continue.  For  the  committee  sees  no  reason  for  any  arbitrary  pro- 
portion and  is  unable  to  suggest  any  new  figures.  But  this  law  was  not  repealed,  and 
the  joint  committee's  report,  w^hen  analyzed,  does  not  recommend  its  unconditional 
repeal,  and  is  distinctly  hostile  to  every  one  of  the  methods  of  repeal  which  have  been 
or  are  now  suggested. 

UXDER    ORGANIC    ACT .  WASHIXGTOXIAN    PAYS    E.VOUGH. 

First,  in  regard  to  what  the  Washingtonian  should  equitably  pay,  the  committee 
recommends  "that  the  people  of  Washington  pay  a  tax  comparable  iri  assessment,  rate, 
and  amount  to  that  tax  paid  by  the  residents  of  other  cities  similar  in  population  and 
location  to  the  city  of  Washington.  This,  we  believe,  is  eminently  fair,  and  there 
should  be  no  greater  exaction  in  taxation  from  the  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia." 
''With  the  payment  of  such  taxes  *  *  *  the  financial  responsibility  of  the  resi- 
dents of  the  District  should  be  concluded." 

The  committee  further  finds  that  under  the  operations  of  the  existing  half-and-half 
law  District  residents  are  now  assessed  and  taxed  up  to  the  limit  of  local  taxation, 
which,  they  say,  can  not  equitably  be  exceeded.  The  committee  declares  "that  the 
present  assessment  valuation  of  privately-owned  real  estate  in  Washington  is  fair  and 
reasonable:"  "the  payment  of  taxes  on  real  estate  from  the  assessments  as  they  are 
now  constituted  is  a  fair  and  reasonable  response  in  such  taxation  for  municipal  bene- 
fits received  by  the  citizens  of  the  District;  the  annual  tax  in  ^^'ashington  is  approxi- 
mately 816  per  capita.  In  the  judgment  of  your  committee  this  is  a  reasonable  tax 
levy  at  this  time,  especially  when  we  consider,  as  we  must,  that  a  large  proportion  of 
the" population  here  pays  but  a  small  amount  of  the  taxes  imposed.''  And  Senator 
Works  adds:  "The  people  of  the  District  are  not  undertaxed.  They  are,  in  my  judg- 
ment, bearing  their  full  share  of  the  burden  of  the  expenses  of  the  District.  Just 
now     *    *     *     I  think  they  are  l)eing  taxed  too  high," 

In  these  words  the  committee  vigorously  indorses  the  half-and-half  law  as  abso- 
lutely fair  to  the  Nation  in  exacting  from  the  District  every  cent  of  tax  money  (and 
perhaps  a  little  more)  that  could  equitably  be  demanded  in  coufoimity  with  the  wise 
standard  of  measurement  and  of  intercity  compaiisons  approved  by  the  committee. 
Clearly  the  half-and-half  law  ought  not  to  be  changed  if  the  result  is  to  increase  the 
proportionate  contribution  of  the  "Washingtouian  and  to  make  heavier  his  tax  burden. 
^^'hat  change  has  ever  been,  or  is  now,  proposed  which  does  not  have  this  effect? 

NATION    PAYS   TOO   LITTLE. 

The  committee  declares  that  under  the  half-and-half  law  the  Washingtonian  does 
not  pay  too  little.  It  also  affirms  that  under  this  law  the  Nation  does  not  pay  enough. 
Running  through  the  report  is  the  suggestion  that  the  national  expenditure  upon  the 
Nation's  city  should  be  largely  increa.'^ed  and  not,  as  demanded  by  the  last  Hou.'^e, 
be  radically  decreased  or  entirely  eliminated.  And  Senator  Works  takes  this  i)osition 
unequivocally,  pointing  out  in  specific  detail  the  neglected  obligations  of  capital 
upbuilding  and  lu-ging  the  more  liberal  a})pr(.)priations  of  national  money  needed  to 
meet  them. 


240  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  ^ 

The  committee's  words  on  this  point  are  as  follows:  i 

"All  of  this  means  that  the  national  city,  the  Nation's  home,  should  be  a  district 
where  the  national  authority  is  not  only  supreme,  but  a  district  where  the  just  pride 
of  a  gi-eat  people  should  insist  upon  its  maintenance  in  a  manner  most  fitting  to  the 
dignity  of  the  citizens  whose  manifestation  of  central  government  it  is. 

******* 

'"As  a  conclusion,  which  should  be  of  the  gi-eatest  weight,  we  urge  upon  Congress 
that  its  appropriations  for  the  expenses  of  the  District  of  Columbia  should  always  be 
in  such  sum  as  will  not  only  continue  the  city  of  Washington  and  the  District  of 
Columbia  in  every  respect  as  the  splendid  and  beautiful  central  residence  of  this  •' 
great  Xation,  but  also  cause  it  to  become  and  be  forever  maintained  as  a  model  for  all  t' 
the  cities  of  the  world.  (^ 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *'a 

"  Our  unanimous  conclusion  is    *    *    *    that  the  Congress  should  pursue  a  definite  w 
policy  of  regular  and  liberal  appropriations,  ha\-ing  in  \aew  not  only  the  permanent 
moral  and  physical  advancement  of  the  city,  but  also  its  preeminent  beauty  and 
grandeiu-  as  the  municipal  expression  of  the  Nation's  home  and  its  people's  pride." 

NO   INDEFIXITE    FLUCTUATIXG   CONTRIBUTION. 

The  joint  committee,  in  finding  that  an  arbitrary  half-and-half  pro\asion  is  no 
longer  needed  to  compel  the  equitable  relations  between  Nation  and  Capital  which, 
it  thinks,  should  exist,  vigorously  approves  the  principles  of  that  legislation.  It  has 
been  contended  that  the  national  contribution  toward  Capital  upbuilding  should  be 
much,  little,  or  nothing,  according  as  the  spirit  moved  at  each  recurring  session. 
The  joint  committee  says  concerning  the  indefinite,  fluctuating  contribution  propo- 
sition: "Our  unanimous  conclusion  is  *  *  *  that  the  Congress  should  pursue  a 
definite  policy  of  regular  and  liberal  appropriations." 

In  response  to  the  contention  that  the  local  contribution  should  be  subject  to  sud- 
den increases,  fluctuating  and  uncertain,  the  joint  committee  says:  ''Our  unanimous 
conclusion  is  that  the  rate  of  taxation  in  the  District  should  be  fixed  and  certain;" 
that  "'there  should  be  no  greater  exaction  from  the  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia" 
than  ''a  tax  comparable  in  assessment,  rate  and  amount  to  that  paid  by  the  residents 
of  other  cities  similar  in  population  and  location  to  the  city  of  Washington; "  and  that 
the  annual  property  tax  in  Washington  at  this  time,  approximately  $16  per  capita, 
meets  these  conditions,  and  "in  the  judgment  of  your  committee  *  *  *  is  a 
reasonable  tax  levy."' 

The  abolition  of"  the  organic  act,  if  accomplished  in  accordance  with  the  report  of 
the  joint  committee,  will  be  attained  only  by  the  substitution  of  a  system  which  shall" 
in  the  final,  impressive  words  of  the  joint  committee  cause  Congress  to  pursue  "a 
definite  policy  of  regular  and  liberal  appropriations"  for  the  advancement  of  the 
city,  and  which  shall  cause  the  taxation  of  the  local  community,  its  contribution  to 
capital  upbuilding,  to  be  "fixed  and  certain.''  Any  proposed  legislation,  in  substi- 
tution for  the  organic  act,  which  in  final  result  leaves  the  annual  national  expenditure 
for  Capital  upbuilding  indefinite,  irregular,  and  illiberal  and  leaves  the  local  contri- 
bution through  taxation  fluctuating  and  uncertain,  will  not  be  in  accord  -nith  the 
principles  of  legislation  laid  down  by  the  joint  committee  and  will  not  be  in  harmony 
with  the  principle  of  equity. 

Indefinite  contribution  plans  of  the  onlj-  type  ever  proposed  in  substitution  for 
the  half-and-half  system  are  hostile  in  four  vital  points  to  the  principles  laid  down 
by  the  joint  committee.  First,  they  all  contemplate  increased  taxation  in  some  shape 
for  the  District,  which,  the  committee  says,  "vnll  be  inequitable,  since  the  present 
tax  burden  is  declared  to  be  already  abundantly  heavy.  Second,  they  all  propose 
a  decrease  or  elimination  of  national  support  of  the  Nation's  city,  whereas  the  com- 
mittee declares  that  to  impose  the  whole  burden  upon  the  District  ''would  be  most 
inequitable  and  unjust,"  and  urges  increased  national  appropriations,  which  ''will 
not  only  continue  the  city  of  Washington  and  the  District  of  Columbia  in  every  respect 
as  the  splendid  and  beautiful  central  residence  of  this  great  Nation,  but  also  cause  it 
to  become  and  be  forever  maintained  as  a  model  for  all  the  cities  of  the  world."' 
Third,  they  all  fail  to  propose  any  legislation  which  will  make  "fixed  and  certain" 
the  taxation  of  the  District  resident.  They  all  leave  this  burden  of  taxation  to  shift 
from  year  to  year  in  accordance  -with  the  judgment  of  Congress  as  to  what  constitutes 
''reasonable  taxation,"  the  opinion  of  many  Members  of  the  last  Ho\jse  being  that  no 
local  tax  was  reasonable  and  fair  which  left  any  of  the  expenses  of  the  Nation's  city  to 
be  borne  by  the  Nation.  Fourth,  they  all  fail  consjDicuously  and  hopelessly  to  pro- 
pose legislation  which  in  making  national  pro\ision  for  the  Capital  shall  cause  Con- 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  24 1 

3S  to  -'pursue  a  delinite  policy  of  regular  and  liberal  appropriations,  having  in 
view  not  onlv  the  permanent  moral  and  physical  advancement  of  the  city,  but  also 
Its  preeminent  beautv  and  grandeur  as  the  municipal  expression  of  the  Nation's  home 
md  its  people's  pride."  they  all  leave  the  national  contribution  to  the  Capital's 
upbuilding,  divorced  from  any  definite  policy,  to  shift  from  session  to  session  in 
iccordance  with  the  whim  and  caprice  of  successive  Congresses,  fluctuating  and 
ancertain  instead  of  regular,  often  miserly  instead  of  liberal  and  reflecting  the  -'people's 
pride.'' 

Since  the  principles  laid  down  by  the  joint  congressional  committee  s  report  are 
hostile  to  all  of  the  practical  and  proposed  methods  of  repealing  the  half-and-half 
law,  this  report,  instead  of  recommending  this  repeal,  in  effect  prohibits  it.  The  con- 
trolling equities  recognized  by  the  joint  committee  are  better  met  by  the  half-and-half 
law  than  bv  anv  of  the  proposed  substitutes. 

The  opinion  of  the  joint  committee  that  the  half-and-half  law  is  no  longer  necessary 
as  a  self-imposed  obligation  to  keep  Congress  up  to  the  mark  of  a  half-contribution 
does  not  overrule  the  other  findings  of  the  report,  and  does  not  justify  repeal  of  the  law, 
even  if  that  opinion  be  well  founded.  And  the  committee's  opinion  on  the  subject 
mav  be  erroneous.  ^  ^   i     i,i 

Certainlv  the  half-and-half  law  was  needed  in  the  last  Congress  to  prevent  double 
taxation  of  the  District  and  to  ward  off  bankruptcy.  Is  it  not  still  needed?  If  there 
is  doubt  on  the  subject  should  not  that  doubt  be  resolved  in  favor  of  the  District, 
since  the  half-and-half  law  is  fair  and  by  continued  existence  injures  no  one? 

NO    IMMEDIATE    REPEAL. 

WTiy  should  Congress  abolish  the  half-and-half  law  at  this  session,  either  directly 
or  indirectly?  The^last  Congress,  instead  of  abolishing  it.  reaflirmed  it,  and  left  future 
action  concerning  it  dependent  upon  the  report  of  the  joint  congressional  committee. 
This  committee's  report  does  not  abolish  the  half-and-half  law,  or,  as  we  have  seen, 
on  the  whole,  recommend  its  unconditional  abolition. 

The  prejudice  which  caused  Members  of  the  last  House  to  vote  to  abolish  the  half- 
and-half  provision  was  based  upon  the  belief  that  this  law  was  unfair  to  the  Nation; 
that  under  its  operations  the  Washingtonian  was  grossly  undertaxed;  that  his  tax 
burden  was  onlv  one-half  that  of  the  resident  of  the  average  American  city;  and  from 
this  belief  sprang  the  demand  that  the  half-and-half  law  should  be  repealed  m  order 
to  do  equitv  by  imposing  practically  the  whole  burden  of  capital  upbuilding  upon  the 
local  comniunitv,  and  by  relieving  the  Nation  correspondingly  of  an  unfau-  financial 
exaction  The 'vital  alleged  fact  in  which  this  belief  and  this  prejudice  were  rooted 
wa^  that  the  realtv  valuation  of  Washington  in  1912  was  §744,000,000,  and  that  this 
realty  was  consequently  in  that  year  and  to-day  underassessed  for  taxation  by  several 
hundred  million  dollars.  .  .        ,  4.    ^t, 

Tlie  Senate  denied  these  contentions  and  the  issues  thus  raised  were  referred  to  the 
iniut  fiscal  committer  for  determination.  The  contentions  of  Washington  on  these 
i--u<'^  voiced  in  the  board  of  trade  as  far  back  as  1898,  and  familiar  to  all  of  us,  wer(J 
v,:Murously  urged,  backed  by  irrestible  e\-idence,  by  the  joint  citizens'  committee. 
Lii  i lie  recent  hearings.  .  ^  j-    4.  ■     t     u      f 

The  joint  congressional  committee  finds  on  all  the  vital  issues  ot  tact  m  taybr  oi 
Wa-^liino-ton.  It  sustains  as  fair  and  reasonable  the  recent  assessment  of  ^^a^hlngton 
r^ 'iltv  which  discloses  nearlv  two  hundred  millions  less  of  realty  values  th-an  were 
Lilioo-ed  to  exist  in  1912  bv  the  so-called  George  report.  It  finds  not  only  that  the 
AA'a^int-tonian  is  not  underassessed,  but  that  as  compared  with  the  resident  of  com- 
piirable  American  cities  he  is  not  undertaxed;  that  his  per  capita  of  property  taxes> 
al>')at  816  is  a  reasonable  tax  burden,  no  more  than  which  s.aould  be  exacted;  thafe 
w  hile  the  Washino'tonian  is  contributing  all  he  equitably  should  toward  capital  up- 
building, more  instead  of  less  should  be  done  by  the  Nation,  in  response  not  only  to 
the  impulse  of  equitv  but  of  enlarged  patriotic  pride  in  the  Nation's  city. 

Does  anyone  believe  that  more  than  an  infinitesimal  fraction  of  the  Representatives 
who  in  the  last  House  were  misled  as  to  the  controlling  facts  would  have  voted  as  they 
did  if  thev  had  kno\vn  the  truth  as  disclosed  by  the  joint  committee's  report  and  the 
sustaininf^  OA-idence?  The  joint  committee  finds  in  effect  that  the  half-and-half 
pro\nsion'"is  absolutelv  fair  to  the  Nation.  Why  should  those  who  voted  against  it 
because  they  thought 'it  unfair  continue  to  oppose  it  after  its  fairness  has  been  demon- 
strated? 

45737—16 16 


242  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPKIATION    BILL,  1917, 

THE    REAL   ISSUE. 

Can  anyone^  (luoylion  our  contention  of  the  real  issue  before  the  joint  cousressional 
committee"?  Running  through  the  entire  House  and  Senate  debates  on  the  repeal 
proposition  is  the  thought  that  the  vital  issue  is  the  gross  undertaxation  of  the  Wash- 
ingtonian  and  the  unfairness  to  the  Nation  of  the  excessively  small  local  contj-ibution 
toward  capital  upbuilding. 

■What,  for  examj^le.  Mr.  Prouty  says  Is  repeated  in  substance  by  many  others. 

Mr.  Prouty.  in  the  Congressional  Record,  volume  52,  pages  485G  and  4857: 

"This  bill  is  intended  to  correct  another  very  serious  abuse,  and  that  is  the  gf  neral 
undervaluation  of  real  estate.  Tlie  last  assessment  of  real  estate  iii  the  District  ot 
Columbia  amounted  to  about  $340,000,000.  The  committee  that  made  this  inves- 
tigation found  that  the  actual  cash  value  at  a  very  conservative  basis  was  §744.000,000. 
*  *  *  If  tlie  property  in  the  District  of  Columbia  was  assessed  as  it  is  assessed  else- 
where it  would  raise  more  than  enough  to  meet  the  entire  budget  expenses  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia." 

In  the  final  House  debate  upon  the  proposition  to  create  the  joint  congressional  com- 
mittee this  thought  of  the  real  issue  is  condensed  in  a  nutshell  in  the  words  of  a  few  of 
the  conspicuous  debaters: 

Says  Mr.  Crisp,  in  the  Congressional  Record,  volume  52,  pages  4856  and  4857: 

"Washington  has  the  lowest  tax  rate  of  any  city  approximately  its  size.  *  *  * 
It  is  manifestly  unjust  to  longer  require  the  taxpayers  of  the  United  States  to  pay 
half  the  expenses  of  the  District  of  Columbia." 

Says  Mr.  Prouty,  page  4858: 

"No  one  who  has  considered  this  question  will  believe  that  the  people  of  the  city  of 
Washington  are  taxed  even  fairly,  as  compared  with  other  people.  They  pay  10  mills 
on  the  dollar  on  their  real  estate.  In  my  town  I  pay  22  mills.  In  your  town  you 
pay  23  mills." 

Says  Mr.  Sisson,  page  4863: 

"Tf  they  pay  a  tax  like  they  pay  in  my  State,  like  they  pay  in  the  States  in  this 
Union,  I  am  satisfied.  They  should  pay  the  same  rate  of  taxes  that  we  pay  at  home. 
They  then  could  raise  enough  money  to  run  the  entire  Government.  But  nobody  is 
asking  for  that.  *  *  *  Let  the  District  pay  an  honest  and  fair  amount  of  taxes 
and  that  will  end  it.     There  will  then  be  nothing  more  to  do." 

The  joint  congressional  committee  declares  on  evidence  submitted  at  the  hearing, 
■which  is  absolutely  and  irresistibly  convincing,  that  the  District  is  now  paying  an 
"honest  and  fair  amount  of  taxes";  that  the  people  of  the  city  of  Washington  are 
already  "taxed  fairly  us  compared  with  other  people."  Such  payment,  Mr.  Sisson 
siggests,  will  end  the  (  ontroversy.  "There  will  then  be  nothing  more  to  do."  Such 
payment  of  fair  local  taxes  has  been  demonstrated.  Should  not  the  raid  upon  the 
half-and-half  law  be  thereby  ended? 

Should  we  not  all  agree  "with  Mr.  Sisson  that  under  the  circumstances  there  is 
equitably  "nothing  more  to  do"? 

Compare  the  mistakes  of  fact  which  Representatives  were  misled  into  making  in 
these  debates  with  the  quoted  findings  of  the  joint  committee  upon  these  issues. 
Contrast  what  was  said  in  the  House  debates  about  underassessment  and  undertaxation 
in  the  District  and  the  failure  of  the  Washingtonian  to  do  anything  like  his  proper 
share  of  the  labor  of  capital  upbuilding  with  the  joint  committee's  measurement  of  the 
faithfulness  and  fullness  with  which  the  Washingtonian  meets  his  ca])ital  obligation. 
Compare  also  the  words  of  the  House  debate  and  the  quoted  findings  of  the  joint  com- 
mittee in  measurement  of  the  faithfulness  with  which  the  Nation  through  Congress 
has  met  its  own  capital  o1)ligations  and  upon  the  (|uestion  whether  the  Nation  should 
in  fiiture  do  more  or  k'ss  in  maintenance  and  devcloi)ment  of  the  Nation's  city. 

The  joint  committee  say.<  tliat  luuler  the  liulf-and-ludf  law  the  District  is  now  con- 
tributing enough,  all  it  equital)ly  should,  when  measured  by  the  best  standards  and 
compared  with  other  American  cities.  It  indicates  that  if  either  party  falls  short  in 
meeting  its  capital  obligations  it  is  the  Nation. 

Since  the  final  measurements  of  the  joint  (!ommittee  disclose  that  half-and-lialf 
proportionate  contnbutions  are  roughly  and  api)roximately  equitable,  wliy  should 
Congress  substitute  confusion  and  chaos  for  the  wise,  fair,  and  beneiicefit  linancial 
system  of  1878,  which  has  restored  self-respect  to  the  Nation,  humiliated  by  its  unpa- 
triotic neglect  of  the  capital  in  the  ])astj  and  which  has  brought  prosi)erity  and  beauty 
to  the  Nation's  cltv  and  developed  it  from  the  people's  shame  into  the  "people's 
pride?  " 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPr.IATIOX    BILL,  1D17.  243 


LEGISLATION   THAT   ^\  ASHINGTON    NEEDS. 

The  immediate  legislation  urgently  needed  by  Washington  is  disclosed  in  the  hear- 
ings before  the  joint  committee. 

(1)  The  law  arbitrarily  limiting  the  commissioners"  annual  estimates  should  be 
quickly  repealed.  It  prohibits  the  .statement  by  the  commissioners  and  the  satisfac- 
tion by  Congi-ess  of  the  actual  needs  of  the  District.  It  ])revents  the  Nation,  ine\-itab]y 
from  meeting  fully  its  capital  obligation.  It  automatically  insures  an  unex])ended 
siu-plus  of  District  tax  money,  it  accompli.'-hes,  as  Congress  apjilies  it,  no  good  pur- 
pose whatsoever.  The  commissionei-s'  estimates,  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the 
joint  committee's  report,  should  disclose  to  ('ongress  W'a.shington's  genuine  municipal 
needs,  both  for  current  maintenance  and  for  permanent  improvements;  and  the  respon- 
sibility lor  appropriating  all  or  only  part  of  these  estimates  should  (as it  does)  rest  solely 
on  Congress. 

(2)  The  effect  of  the  report  of  the  joint  committee  is  to  vindicate  in  principle  the 
treatment  of  the  half-and-half  provision  as  not  necessarily  applying  arbitrarily  and 
separately  to  each  year,  considered  alone,  but  to  the  average  of  a  series  of  \  ears.  The 
joint  committee  points  out  that  District  expcnditui-es  since  1878  have  Wen  in  the 
aggregate,  though  not  in  every  year  viewed  separately,  on  the  half-and-half  ba.sis. 
The  committee  expresses  the  belief  that  this  fact  is  evidence  of  design,  not  an  accident, 
and  that  the  Nation  thus  not  only  intended  to  carry  out',  but  did  carry  out  its  half- 
and-half  promise. 

Under  the  present  practice  which  puts  local  taxation  before  congressional  appro- 
priation the  half-and-half  provision  is  not  and  can  not  be  arbitrarily  enforced  and 
literally  obeyed  in  any  one  year.  But  in  the  long  run,  in  the  ftiture  as  in  the  past, 
this  provision  can  be  enforced  and  obeyed. 

Whv  not  go  ahead  in  the  futui-e  in  general  conformity  with  this  practice,  thus 
vindicated  in  principle  by  the  joint  committee?  The  only  legislation  necessary  will 
be  a  provision  to  put  the  surplus  of  District  tax  money  in  any  year  into  the  Treasury, 
not  as  miscellaneous  receipts,  to  be  merged  with  national  money  and  lost  to  the  Dis- 
trict, but,  as  the  joint  committee's  report  describes  it,  as  "a  trust  fund  for  the  benefit 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  *  *  *  to  be  expended  in  the  government  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  for  no  other  purpose." 

Repeal  of  the  law  limiting  the  commissioners'  estimates  will  permit  Congress  to 
consider  in  appropriations  the  full  needs  of  the  District,  and  the  surplus  in  any  year 
of  unexpended  District  tax  money  will  thus  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  But  any 
surpluses,  even  though  large,  which  under  the  proposed  legislation  will  go  into  the 
District's  trust  fund  will  clearly  be  needed  in  the  future  as  a  reserve  fund  (1)  to  pay 
District  indebtedness,  fictitious  or  genuine;  including  the  alleged  ancient  resurrected 
debts,  based  on  the  blunders  or  neglects  of  Ciovernment  officials  in  the  seventies  of  the 
last  century,  which  have  been  conjured  up  in  the  House;  (2)  to  be  accumulated  and 
later  wisely  utilized  to  meet  the  possible  emergency  of  a  District  shortage  in  some  year 
in  necessary  tax  revenue  under  the  organic  act:  and  (S)  to  meet  the  District's  share 
of  the  cost  of  gi'eat  permanent  public  improvements  which  will  call  for  the  immediate 
expenditure  of  more  money  than  can  be  spared  from  current  revenues. 

A    PETITION    AND    PROTEST. 

We,  the  members  of  the  Washington  Board  of  Trade,  do  earnestly  petition  Con- 
gress (Ij  for  the  repeal  of  the  law  of  1909  w^hich  restricts  the  commissioners'  estimates 
to  twice  the  amount  of  the  District's  estimated  revenues:  and  (2)  for  legislation  which 
shall  cause  any  surplus  of  District  revenue  arising  in  any  year  from  the  enforcement 
of  the  half-and-half  law  to  be  held  in  the  Treasury  as  a  trust  fund  for  the  benefit  of  the 
District  to  meet  its  need  in  some  future  year. 

We  protest  against  the  repeal  at  this  time  of  the  half-and-half  law,  which  the  joint 
congressional  committee  has  in  effec-t  declared  to  be  fair:  ajid  we  especially  protest 
against  such  repeal  by  rider  on  an  appropriation  bill;  or  in  such  form  as  t(j  be  retro- 
active: or  by  any  method  which  does  not  secure  for  the  proposed  Icgislalioii  thorough 
preliminary  consideration  by  the  Di.strict  conunittee.s.  and  l)y  C()ii<,ries.-.  luid  which 
does  not  substitute  for  the  repealed  law  one  establishing  a  delinite  policy  of  regular 
and  liberal  appropriations  by  Congress  for  capital  maintenance  and  development 
and  a  fixed  and  certain  tax  burden  for  the  District  of  Columbia. 

We  further  earnestly  protest  against  the  appropriation  by  this  year's  District  appro- 
priation bill  of  any  amount  le.ss  than  t\vice  the  District's  estimated  revenues  in  ac- 
cordance with  existing  law  unless  the  resulting  surplus  of  District  tax  money  is  de- 
clared to  be  held  in  trust  in  the  Treasury  for  the  benefit  of  the  District  to  meet  in  part 
its  needs,  outside  of  current,  routine  expenditures,  in  future  years. 


244  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1911. 

SUPPLEMENTARY    REMARKS    OF    CHAIRMAX    XOYES. 

This  report  was  framed  before  the  pending  appropriation  bill  \vith  its  legislative 
rider  was  made  public.  But  this  proposed  legislation  fits  upon  its  own  head  with 
precision  the  cap  of  our  just  and  reasonable  condemnation.  It  leaves  undone  the 
things  for  which  we  petition,  and  it  does  the  things  against  which  we  protest. 

It  does  not  secure  for  the  proposed  legislation  thorough  preliminary  consideration 
by  the  District  Committees  and  by  Congress.  The  provision  is,  without  public  hear- 
ings, rushed  through  under  whip  and  spur,  by  the  all-powerful  Appropriations  and 
Rules  Committees. 

Repeal  takes  the  objectionable  shape  of  a  rider  upon  an  appropriation  bill,  operat- 
ing covertly,  by  indirection. 

This  rider  is  in  substance  and  effect  the  same  as  that  urged  last  year  on  the  ground 
that  the  half-and-half  law  was  grossly  unfair  to  the  Nation.  The  joint  conimittee 
reports  that  the  half-and-half  law  is  absolutely  fair  to  the  Nation.  Yet  on  the  pretext 
of  following  this  report,  which  cuts  the  foundation  from  under  last  year's  rider,  that 
hostile  proposition  is  resurrected  and  vitalized  in  the  pending  bill. 

This  rider  adopts  only  the  destructive  suggestions  of  the  joint  committee  and  ignores 
its  constructive  recommendations. 

It  destroys  outright  the  old  law  for  which  the  committee  found  no  reason  or  necessity 
for  continued  existence  and  leaves  chaos  in  its  place. 

It  fails  to  provide  by  law  fixed  and  certain  local  taxation  along  the  lines  urged  by 
the  joint  committee.  Such  taxation  is  left  uncertain  and  fluctuating.  The  pending 
})ill  adds  to  the  local  tax  burden,  which  the  joint  committee  says  is  ample  by  impos- 
ing additional  si)ecial  assessments  in  connection  with  street  paving,  new  charges  in 
connection  with  the  aqueduct  and  a  new  tax  on  vaults  under  sidewalks.  These  local 
payments  under  the  bill  reduce  correspondingly  the  Nation's  contribution  which  the 
joint  committee  says  is  now  too  little. 

In  the  background  with  the  half-and-half  law  repealed  lurk  the  inheritance  tax 
and  the  tax  on  intangible  personalty. 

The  new  organic  act  by  rider  on  appropriation  bill  fails  to  provide  in  place  of  the 
repealed  law  the  definite  policy  of  regular  and  liberal  appropriations  by  Congress, 
urged  by  the  joint  committee.  The  appropriations  proposed,  divorced  from  any 
definite  policy,  are  irregular  and  illiberal. 

If  the  joint  committee  had  found  that  the  half-and-half  law  was  grossly  unfair  to  the 
nation,  and  that  the  District  resident  was  underassessed  and  undertaxed  and  shirking 
his  proper  capital  contribution,  the  appropriation  bill,  with  its  cut  of  three  and  a  half 
millions  from  the  commissioners'  estimates,  its  new  tax  exactions  from  local  residents, 
and  its  rider  unconditionally  repealing  the  half-and-half  law  could  hardly  have  been 
differently  worded. 

How  then  can  it  be  maintained  that  this  bill  is  in  accord  with  the  findings,  the 
letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  joint  committee's  report?  Will  Congress  which  rejected 
this  rider  when  many  thought  or  feared  that  the  half-and-half  arrangements  was 
unfair  to  the  Nation  adopt  the  rider  after  the  law  has  been  demonstrated  to  be  fair? 

Will  not  those  friends  of  the  District  in  Congress  who  would  repeal  the  half-and-half 
law  in  order  that  the  Nation  might  do  more  than  at  present  for  the  upbuilding  of  the 
capital  vigorously  oppose  a  repeal  which  reduces  at  once  the  national  contribution 
by  millions  and  clearly  points  to  the  ultimate  withdrawal  of  that  contribution? 

"^ Shall  we  not  all  get  together,  sinking  personal  opinions  if  necessary  in  the  public 
interest,  and  unitedly  oppose  repeal  at  this  time,  in  this  way,  and  with  this  disastrous 
result? 

Mr.  Macfarland.  May  the  representative  of  the  president  of  the 
chamber  of  commerce  say  just  a  word  for  Mr.  Moran,  who  could  not 
be  present  here  this  morning?  I  introduce  Mr.  A.  Leftwich  SincLiir, 
one  of  our  prominent  lawyers. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  A.  LEFTWICH  SINCLAIR.    . 

Mr.  SiNCi.AiK.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  I  appear  here  as  a 
representative  of  the  president  of  the  chamber  of  commerce,  who 
could  not  be  present  to-day.  I  am  first  vice  president  of  that  organi- 
zation. I  want  to  say  that  the  board  of  directors  of  the  chamber  of 
commerce  recently  adopted  resolutions  in  opposition  to  this  rider,  and 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  lOH.  245 

copies  of  those  resolutions  have  ])eeii  liled  with  your  coinniittee.  I 
hope  that  the  committee  will  tiiid  time  to  read  those  resolutions  l)cfore 
final  action  on  this  bill. 

Senator  Gallixger.  What  is  the  membership  of  the  cliamber  of 
commerce,  approximately? 

Mr.  SiNCT  AIR.  About  600. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  understand  there  is  here  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  retail  merchants,  Mr.  Columbus,  I  believe  is  his  name. 

Mr.  Columbus.  Yes,  sir. 

RENT    OF    VAULT — SPACE    UNDER    SIDEWALKS. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  CHARLES  J.  COLUMBUS. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  represent  the  lietail  Merchants' 
Association,  as  I  understand? 

Mr.  Columbus.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Mar3dand.  Will  you  please  state  how  many 
members  there  are  in  that  association  ? 

Mr.  Columbus.  We  have  180  firms.  We  elect  to  membership 
the  business  houses.  Of  course,  that  represents  m.any  more  indi- 
viduals. The  association  is  represented  at  this  meeting  this  morning 
by  Mr.  Macfarland,  speaking  for  the  joint  committee,  of  which  our 
association  is  a  member;  but,  gentlemen,  w^e  are  particularly  con- 
cerned in  that  rider  on  page  96,  section  8,  which  reads  as  follows: 

Sec.  8.  That  hereafter  the  Commissioners  of  the  Districi  of  Columbia  are  authorized 
and  directed  to  assess  and  collect  rent  from  all  users  of  space  occupied  under  the  side- 
walks and  streets  in  the  District  of  (Jolumbia,  which  said  space  is  occui)icd  or  used 
in  connection  with  the  business  of  said  users. 

Gentlemen,  this  is  just  another  burden  added  to  those  of  the 
business  interests  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  which  we  consider 
absolutely  unfair.  These  sidewalk  or  vault  spaces  constitute  a 
convenience  to  the  public,  without  endangering  or  hindering  the 
public  in  any  way.  How  would  merchandise  be  placed  in  buildings 
without  sucli  vault  spaces  {  It  would  be  absolutely  impossible. 
With  such  a  tax,  coming  upon  the  heels  of  the  eight-hour  law  for 
female  employees — that  is  one  tax  that  is  absolutely  a  law — and 
other  things  that  seem  to  be  contemplated,  I  do  not  know  where 
business  would  get  off.  Our  position  in  this  matter  of  vault  tax  is 
very  well  set  forth  in  an  editorial  which  appeared  in  the  Evening 
Star  of  a  recent  date.     This  article  is  as  follows: 

THE    PROPOSED    SIDEWALK    VAULT   TAX. 

The  proposition  carried  by  the  District  appropriation  bill  in  its  present  form  to 
authorize  the  commissioners  to  lax  sidewalk  vault  spaces  is  doubly  objectionable. 
In  the  first  place  it  is  an  inequitable  measure.  The  streets  of  W  ashington  were  given 
to  the  Government  by  the  property  owners  for  use  as  thoroughfares,  and  in  e(juity  at 
least  with  the  reservation  of  all  easements  not  in  conflict  wdth  the  use  of  the  spaces  for 
street  purposes.  The  vaults  under  the  sidewalk  are  for  public  benefit  in  that  they 
facilitate  business.  They  do  not  in  any  sense  interfere  with  the  proper  street  use. 
They  do  not  constitute  a  musance.  They  are  a  public  advantage  in  that  they  aid  in 
the  commercial  development  of  the  Di.strict.  The  owner  of  the  vault  is  compelled  to 
keep  it  in  repair  just  as  the  owner  of  a  dwelling  is  expected  to  keep  in  good  order  the 
parking  space  in  front  of  his  residence,  the  title  to  which  is  in  the  Government,  and 
for  which  he  pays  no  rent  or  taxes. 


246  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATION    BILL^  1917. 

But  on  a  broader  ground  the  proposp,!  to  tax  the  sidewalk  vaults  is  distasteful.  It 
is  an  additional,  unnecessary  assessment  upon  the  property  owner.  Coupled  as  it  is 
with  the  proposed  destruction  of  the  lifty-iifty  rule  of  District  maintenance,  on  a  bill 
which  proposes  a  seventy-third  division  of  expenses  between  the  District  and  the 
United  States,  it  appears  as  a  deliberate  endeavor  to  increase  the  volume  of  local  rev- 
enues in  order  to  decrease  the  national  contribution  to  the  District's  upkeep. 

It  has  often  been  urged  that  the  abrogation  of  the  half-and-half  principle  of  the 
organic  act,  if  it  were  not  replaced  by  some  new  safeguard,  would  lead  to  the  impo- 
sition of  higher  taxes  upon  the  District  people  in  one  form  or  another.  It  matters  not 
whether  these  additional  taxes  are  in  the  form  of  realty  assessments  or  specific  taxes 
such  as  that  projidsed  for  the  use  of  sidewalk  vaults.  The  tax  burden  is  increased 
one  way  or  tjic  other,  and  it  has  been  demonstrated  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  joint 
committee  which  investigated  the  fiscal  relations  between  the  District  and  the  General 
Government  that  the  District  is  already  as  heavily  taxed  as  any  other  American  com- 
munity of  comparable  size.  With  the  per  capita  tax  burden  of  the  Washingtonian 
standing  as  high  as  it  does,  the  needless  and  ineciui table  addition  of  any  form  of  specific 
taxation  is  most  unjust. 

Gentlemen,  as  I  said  before,  business  seems  to  have  increasing- 
burdens  put  upon  it,  not  alone  in  the  form  of  public  and  legal  taxation, 
but  every  time  there  is  a  movement  of  any  character,  the  hrst  thought 
that  seems  to  come  to  mind,  where  money  is  needed,  is  the  business 
man.  >,ow,  we  appeal  t(j  you  this  morning,  gentlemen,  to  set  aside 
this  rider  as  unfair. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Have  you  any  information  as  to  the  rule  pre- 
vailing in  other  cities  in  regard  to  this  matter  ? 

Mr.  Columbus,  ao,  sir;  1  have  not.  There  has  been  absolutely  no 
public  demand  for  this. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Did  you  ever  have  an  opportunity  to  appear 
before  the  House  committee  on  this  subject  ? 

Ml*.  Columbus.  j\o,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Were  you  invited  to  appear  ? 

Mr.  Columbus.  i\o,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Had  you  any  knowledge  of  it? 

Mr.  Columbus.  We  had  no  knowledge  of  it  until  it  went  through. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Have  assessments  never  been  made  of  tiie 
spaces  uiuler  the  sidewalks  of  Washington  ? 

Mr.  Columbus.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  you  do  not  know  whether  in 
other  cities  it  is  the  rule  to  assess  privileges  of  this  kind  or  not  ? 

Mr.  Columbus.  No,  I  do  not;  but  I  have  never  heard  of  any  such 
rule  in  other  cities.  I  have  lived  here  all  my  life,  and  this  is  the  first 
time  that  a  suggestion  of  anything  of  this  sort  has  ever  come  a])out. 
It  had  not  come  from  the  citizens  here,  at  all. 

Senator  Gallinger.  How  general  is  this  custom  on  the  part  of  the 
merchants  of  Washington  i  Are  there  many  cases  where  they  are 
occupying  space  under  the  sid(^walks,  or  are  there  only  a  few '. 

Mr.  Columbus.  1  do  not  think  there  are  very  many.  It  affects 
])ractically  every  line.  You  will  notice  in  the  outlying  sections  that 
grocers  have  them,  and  others  have  them,  for  the  convenience  of 
their  business.  If  we  had  no  sidewalk  vault  spaces  it  wmild  be 
absolut(^ly  necessary  to  pile  goods  there  until  the  store  should  close, 
in  order  to  get  them  tlu'otigh.  It  facilitates  l)usiness.  It  is  an  econ- 
omy in  the  j)u])li(;  interest,  and  certaiidy  the  ])u])lic  has  not  asked 
for  this. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yoiu-  idea  is  that  if  this  was  not  the 
case,  the  disadvantages  would  be  very  great  to  the  public  because 
they  would  have  to  store  the  merchandise  or  whatever  it  might  be 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  247 

on  the  sidewalks  until  they  could  take  it  in  at  a  late  hour,  when 
business  was  not  in  progress  ^ 

Mr.  Columbus.  Oh.  absolutely.  You  take  a  merchant  getting  a 
bill  of  goods — (^f  millinery,  or  any  large  case  goods:  they  would  have 
to  stay  out  in  front  until  they  could  discommode  their  store.  r(M^lo^'ing 
aisle  trays,  etc.,  or  until  the  store  was  closed,  and  they  could  get  them 
in;  and  in  the  meantime  the  public  would  be  very  greatly  incon- 
renienced.  Alley  space  is  not  large  in  the  downtown  section.  In 
fact,  there  are  lots  of  blocks  where  there  is  no  alley  space  whatever, 
and  it  would  be  absolutely  necessary  for  those  goods  to  remain  out 
there.  There  is  great  difficulty  now,  even  with  the  vault  spaces  we 
have,  in  delivering  goods.  The  Merchants"  Transfer  &  Storage  Co. 
complain  from  time  to  time  that  they  can  not  get  to  the  stores  except 
at  stated  times,  and  that  is  due  to  the  fact  that  facilities  for  getting 
freight,  merchandise,  into  the  stores  is  very  limited,  necessarily. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Are  these  vault  spaces  used  for  any 
other  purpose  than  getting  in  the  goods  ?  Are  they  used  for  storage 
purposes  ? 

^h\  CoLUMBL's.  Yes,  they  are  used  for  store  space  in  some  instances, 
and  office  space.  But  largely,  almost  entirely,  they  are  used  for 
storage  and  the  receipt  of  merchandise. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Suppose  this  should  go  in  the  bill,  upon  what 
basis  would  the  tax  be  levied  ? 

IMi'.  CoLUMBL's.  I  do  not  know.  I  have  not  got  it  with  me,  but  I 
understand  that  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  House  covering  that 
assessment.  I  have  not  that  at  hand  right  now.  But  it  would  be 
manifestly  unfair,  gentlemen,  for  such  a  messure  as  that  to  go  through. 
There  seems  to  be  no  end  to  the  burdens  that  are  upon  business. 
Business  does  not  know  where  it  is  going  to  get  off. 

Senator  Gallixger.  At  present  your  space  in  your  store  is  not 
taxed,  but  the  stock  is  taxed  ? 

Mr.  Columbus.  Yes,  the  stock  is  taxed;  and  we  pay  the  real  estate 
tax,  of  course. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes,  certainly;  the  real  estate  tax. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  gentlemen  have  any  questions 
to  ask  ?     Senator  Curtis,  have  you  any  cfuestions  ^ 

Senator  Curtis.  No,  sir. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  A.  IISNER. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  do  you  represent  ? 

Mr.  Lisxer.  I  represent  A.  Lisner  &  Co.,  the  Palais  Royal.  I  am 
not  much  accustomed  to  speaking  before  the  public,  but  I  do  not  think 
it  will  require  much  eloquence  to  convince  you  gentlemen  that  we 
should  not  have  any  new  taxes  imposed  upon  us.  It  does  not  matter 
much  to  me  whether  any  tax  is  paid  an\-vvhere  else,  but  I  am  speak- 
ing now  of  the  general  tax  imposed  on  us.  We  have  about  as  much 
as  we  can  stand. 

The  committee  which  investigated  the  fiscal  relation.s  Ix'tween  the 
District  and  the  Government  said  so,  and  we  simply  can  not  stand 
any  addition.al  tax.  In  the  first  place,  the  taxes  are  much  higher 
than  they  were  two  years  ago,  and  everything  to  do  business  with  is 
so  much  more,  so  that  we  find  we  at  present  hardly  can  make  half 
decent  interest  on  our  monev. 


248  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  lOn. 

Serator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  say  the  tax  is  much  higher  than 
it  was  two  years  ago  i 

Mr.  LisxER.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  In  what  way '( 

Mr.  LiSNER.  I  myself'  am  paying  at  least  $5,000  more.  There  is 
the  tax  on  real  estate  and  the  personal  tax. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  is  because  the  assessment  has  been 
raised,  is  it  not  ? 

Mr.  LisxER.  Yes,  the  assessment  has  been  raised. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  On  what? 

Mr.  LisxER.  So  that  I  am  paj-ing  on  both  real  estate  and  per- 
gonal  

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Probably  you  have  more  property 
than  you  had  a  few  years  ago. 

Mr.  LisxER.  Yes,  I  have  more  property.  But  the  personal  tax 
has  been  raised,  and  without  any  reason.  Simply,  I  should  think  if  any 
more  expenses  are  imposed  upon  us,  the  conditions  should  be  investi- 
gated whether  we  can  stand  it  or  not.  Conditions  in  Washington 
have  been  abnormal,  particularly  for  the  last  two  or  three  years.  As 
I  said  before,  the  expenses  have  increased  abnormally,  and  it  is  hard 
to  keep  up  the  receipts  of  two  years  ago.  How  can  we  make  any 
money  that  way  i  We  are  always  very  liberal,  we  business  men,  if  an^*- 
thmg  is  asked  lor.  There  is  not  a  rummage  sale,  or  a  hospital  built, 
but  what  they  come  to  us,  and  we  gladly  respond  if  we  can  do  it; 
but  there  is  a  limit  to  what  we  can  do.  Of  course,  as  long  as  the 
chairman  of  the  House  committee  is  inflicted  with  the  idea  that  we 
are  not  paying  enough,  we  can  not  get  any  satisfaction  from  the 
House.     We  therefore  appeal  to  you  for  a  remedy. 

As  I  said,  before  any  additional  expenses  should  be  put  upon  us  in 
the  way  of  taxes,  conditions  should  be  investigated  so  that  it  shall  be 
seen  if  there  is  a  reason  for  doing  so.  Let  us  define  the  thing  \  What 
have  we  here,  anyhow  ?  Let  us  compare  the  city  of  Washington  with 
a  city  hke  Boston.  In  Boston  they  have  a  rich  suburban  trade;  they 
have  a  great  many  rich  people;  and  they  have  industrial  institutions 
galore.  What  have  we  here  (  We  have  nothing  but  the  poor  Gov- 
ernment clerks  that  have  not  been  raised  in  50  years,  getting  the  same 
salaries  with  their  expense  50  per  cent  liigher.  What  have  we?  We 
must  live  from  them.  If  additional  taxes  are  put  upon  us  and  some- 
thing is  given  us  in  return*  as  a  compensation,  why,  we  would  not 
say  a  word.  But  I  am  perfectly  willing  to  take  my  books,  to  bring 
my  books  to  the  committee — I  will  not  make  public  property  of  it — 
and  let  the  committes  decide  whether  I,  for  instance,  could  afford  to 
stand  any  additional  expense.  I  would  be  perfectly  willing  to  do  it; 
and  I  watch  ray  business  about  as  close  as  anybody  in  the  city.  I  do 
not  allow  anybody  to  get  ahead  of  me;  and  I  am  always  there,  and 
anybody  can  tell  you  that.  I  am  off  in  summer  iov  a  while,  but  I 
come  on,  off  and  on,  and  see  that  things  are  all  right. 

wSenator  Gallixger.  You  go  to  New  Hampshire  in  the  summer  to 
get  health. 

Mr.  LisxER.  That  is  right:  and  it  is  the  place  to  go,  too. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  There  has  been  no  rate  of  taxation 
fixed  upon  this  privilege.  Have  you  any  idea  how  they  propose  to 
tax  it? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA-  APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  249 

Mr.  LiSNER.  What  I  am  speaking  of.  Senator,  is  this:  I  am  speaking 
of  the  thino;  as  a  whole,  whether  it  is  war  taxation,  or  anything  else. 
There  should  not  be  any  additional  expense  put  upon  us  for  what  our 
receipts  are.  I  am  perfectly  willing  to  show  the  committee  just 
exactly  how  the  thing  stands.  I  do  not  care  whether  it  is  a  war  tax 
or  any  other  tax;  I  look  at  it  in  a  general  way,  and  I  am  perfectly 
willing  to  show  the  conditions  in  the  last  two  or  three  3'ears — the}*  are 
a  little  better  now,  but  they  are  not  much  better — and  as  long  as  we 
are  here,  we  have  done  a  lot  of  good  for  the  city,  and  we  have  helped — 
I  know  I  have  helped— almost  any  institution  in  the  city,  and  there- 
fore we  are  of  some  good.  Why  should  we  be  destroyed  ?  We  can  not 
continue  like  that,  and  we  must  make  a  fair  investment  on  our  money. 
We  can  not  be  destroyed. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  question  for  us  to  determine  is 
whether  this  privilege  is  a  proper  source  of  taxation.  That  is  the 
question  that  comes  before  us.  Of  course,  sometimes  taxes  are  hard, 
but  the  question  here  is  whether  this  privilege  should  be  taxed  or  not. 
That  is  the  matter  for  us  to  determine,  more  than  whether  you  are 
making  any  money  or  not.  Of  course  a  great  many  businesses  do 
not  make  any  money.  I  am  not  saying  that  that  is  a  proper  tax. 
Do  you  know  whether  taxes  are  imposed  in  other  cities  for  these 
privileges  ? 

Mr.  LisxER.  I  do  not  know,  Mr.  Chairn  an,  anything  about  it.  I 
did  not  take  much  interest  in  that,  because  I  was  imbued  with  the 
idea  that  no  matter  what  taxes  are  imposed  upon  us,  we  should  not 
have  any  of  any  kind,  because  we  do  not  deserve  it,  no  matter  what 
it  is. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Have  you  anything  further  to  say? 

Mr.  LisNER.  No;  I  have  nothing  else,  now. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Has  any  member  of  the  committee 
any  questions  to  ask?  Is  there  anybody  else  who  wants  to  speak  on 
this  question? 

STATEMENT   OF  MR.  GEORGE  S.  DE  NEALE,  SUPERINTENDENT 
OF  S.  KANN  SONS  &  CO. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maiyland.  Your  firm  is  affected  by  this  pro- 
posed tax  ? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  Very  materially  so. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  We  will  hear  what  you  have  to  say. 

Mr.  De  Neale.  I  would  like  to  state  that  I  concur  fully  in  the  views 
expressed  by  Mr.  Columbus  with  respect  to  this  question,  and  I  would 
lay  special  emphasis  on  one  particular  point,  and  that  is  that  if  it  was 
not  for  the  advantages,  etc.,  we  derive  from  the  vaults  under  the  side- 
walks, the  sidewalks  would  be  in  such  a  congested  condition  that  thev 
would  be  impassable  for  the  best  part  of  the  day,  due  to  lack  of  facil- 
ities, or  dile  to  our  inability  to  get  the  goods  properly  stored  awa}' 
in  time. 

Senator  Dillingham.  It  would  be  physically  impossible  to  handle 
the  goods  without  the  vaults  i 

Mr.  De  Neale.  Yes;  it  would  be  impossible  to  get  the  goods  off 
of  the  sidewalks  to  their  proper  places  in  the  stores  and  in  the  receiving 
rooms. 


250  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  Your  compaii}'  owns  the  building  in  which 
they  do  business  ? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  Only  a  very  small  part  of  it.     They  rent. 

Senator  Dillingham.  These  vaults  were  constructed  by  the 
owners  of  the  buildings  ? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  Originally,  yes. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  Under  permits? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  Yes. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  And  they  are  substantially  a  part  of  them? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  Yes. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  Do  you  know  whether  that  fact  is  taken 
into  consideration  by  the  assessors  in  assessing  the  value  of  the 
buildings  ? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  That  I  am  unable  to  say. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  This,  of  course,  gives  you  more  floor 
space  ? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  Oh,  yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  know  whether  in  assessing 
these  buildings  they  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  these  con- 
veniences add  to  the  value  of  the  property  or  not  ? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  I  am  unable  to  say. 

Senator  Smith  of  Mar^dand.  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
that  is  taken  into  consideration  when  the  assess  they  property  ?  Is  it 
not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  these  privileges  that  you  have  which 
make  the  property  more  valuable  are  taken  into  consideration  ? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  It  is  very  probable. 

Senator  Dillixgham.  The  point  you  make  is  that  for  public  con- 
venience it  is  better  for  you  to  have  the  vaults  than  to  have  traffic 
on  the  sidewalk  incommoded  by  the  passing  in  and  out  of  goods? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  That  w^ill  not  admit  of  any  cpestion. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  have  an  alley  ? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  We  have  a  very  small  alley,  and  inadequate. 

Senator  Curtis.  If  the  use  of  this  vault  space  was  taken  from  you, 
that  space  would  be  inadequate  ? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  Entirely  so;  the  alley  space  we  have  is  entirely 
inadequate  to  handle  any  part  of  our  business. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  I  want  to  get  at  is,  is  it  not 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  in  the  assessment  of  this  property  the 
value  of  the  privilege  of  these  vaults  to  your  property  was  taken  into 
consideration,  and  that  your  property  was  assessed  at  more  than  if 
you  did  not  have  the  vaults  ? 

Mr.  De  Neale.  It  is  ver}- probable ;  yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Have  you  anything  further  to  say '( 

Mr.  De  Neale.  There  is  nothing  that  I  could  throw  any  additional 
light  on. 

IIALF-AXI)-IIALF    PRINCIPLE — AGAIN. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  CHARLES  C.  LANCASTER.  " 

Senator  Smi'iii  of  MaryLnid.  Mr.  Lancastei',  what  is  the  object  of 
your  appearance  })efore  this  committee  '. 

Mr.  Laxcaster.  I  am  president  of  the  Citizens'  Northwest  Sub- 
urban Association,  and  with  me  is  a  committee  composed  of  Dr. 
John  W.  Chapell,  Fred  J.  Heider,  and  Fulton  R.  Gordon,  selected 
by  the  citizens'  association  to  appear  before  this  committee. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  251 

Senator  Smith  of  Marylaiul.  Are  they  all  present  here  ti)-day  ^ 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Ye-^:  they  are  all  present. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  do  they  want  to  liave  something 
to  say  ? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Well,  yes,  sir:  just  briefly,  aftir  I  get  through. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Tliere  being  quite  a  number,  we  would 
ask  that  you  be  as  brief  as  possible. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Yes,  sir.  Gentlemen,  I  will  endeavor  to  take 
these  matters  up  that  we  are  interested  in  as  taxpayers  of  the  city 
in  the  order  in  wliich  the  bill  is  prepared. 

The  first  item  hi  the  bill  affects  what  is  known  as  the  half-and- 
haK,  or  the  act  of  1878.  We  have  given  that  subject  a  great  deal  of 
consideration  in  the  many  years  that  our  association  has  been  in 
existence,  and  I  myself  have  given  it  a  great  deal  of  study,  and  I 
made  an  elaborate  argument  before  the  Fiscal  Relations  Committee, 
which  is  printed  in  the  document  here  as  shown  by  Mr.  Macfarland, 
and  I  have  separate  copies  of  my  argument  here,  which  I  propose  to 
leave  with  the  members  of  the  committee  for  their  perusal,  on  the 
subject  of  the  half  and  half. 

Our  association  passed  the  following  resolution,  expressing  the 
views  of  the  citizens  in  the  northwest  section  of  Washington 

Senator  Gallinger.  Mr.  Lancaster,  if  the  chairman  will  permit 
me,  the  half-and-half  principle  is  so  full}^  in  our  minds,  and  has  been 
discussed  so  many  times,  do  you  not  think  it  would  be  wise  just  to 
put  that  in  the  record  without  reading  it? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  This  is  very  brief.  It  will  not  take  a  minute  to 
read  it. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Eveiy  minute  is  of  value. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  I  want  to  show  you  how"  carefully  we  have  gone 
into  this  matter,  and  this  is  brief.  This  is  a  point  which  has  not  been 
presented  to  you  before.  Senator.     The  resolution  is  as  follows: 

WTiereas  all  our  internal  revenue  taxes,  our  income  taxes,  and  our  stamp  taxes  are 
deposited  in  the  United  States  Treasury  to  the  credit  of  miscellaneous  receipts,  we 
contend  and  petition  that  all  our  real  estate  and  personal  taxes  should  be  so  depos- 
ited, and  the  Congress  should  appropriate  generally  for  the  support  of  the  Federal 
seat  of  Government  in  "Washington,  and  that  the  Congress  should  abandon  entirely 
the  unjust  and  illegal  partnership  between  the  United  States  and  the  few  taxpayers 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  as  being  in  clear  violation  of  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the 
seventeenth  paragraph  of  section  8  of  Article  I,  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States:  Therefore,  be  it 

Resolved  by  the  Citizens'  Northcest  Suburban  Association  in  public  iiueting  assembled 
this  16th  dnij  of  June.  1916,  That  we  vigorously  oppose  the  first  and  second  paragraphs 
of  H.  R.  15774,  a  bill  making' appropriations  to  provide  for  the  expenses  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  District  of  Columbia  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  .30,  1917,  and  for 
other  purposes,  as  passed  the  House  and  now  pending  in  the  Senate,  and  we  strongly 
petition  the  members  of  the  Senate  and  House  io  insert  in  lieu  thereof  the  following 
paragraphs,  to  wit: 

Now,  this  is  the  gist  of  the  thing. 

The  following  suras  are  hereby  appropriated,  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated,  for  the  support  of  the  government  of  the  District  of  Columbia 
for  the  fiscal  year  ending  .Tune  30,  1917,  and  for  other  purposes. 

In  that  connection,  I  have  secured  from  the  Treasury  Department 
the  amount  of  the  income  tax  that  we  pay  into  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States.  In  my  argument  here  I  stated  to  the  joint  committee 
that  we  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  for  customs  and 
internal  revenue  receipts  the  sum  of  $1,583,000.     That  has  been  going 


252  "  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPBOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

on  now  for  years  and  years,  ever  since  they  have  been  collecting  taxes . 
None  of  tliat  money  is  credited  to  the  half-and-half.  That  is  put  into 
the  Treasury  and  paid  out  for  battleships  or  a  post  office,  or  anything 
else  you  please. 

In  addition  to  that  we  have  here  a  corporation  tax  and  the  indi- 
vidual income  tax.  The  corporation  tax  amounts  to  8134,767.04 
for  the  fiscal  year  1915.  The  individual  income  tax  amounts  to 
$378,673.72.  that  makes  $513,440.76  collected  from  our  people  in 
Wasliington  City,  placed  in  the  Treasury  as  miscellaneous  receipts, 
and  used  for  any  purpose  that  the  Government  may  desire. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Precisely  as  it  is  in  any  of  the  States? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Fxactly. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Precisely  as  other  cities  do. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Fxactly. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  are  not  in  any  way  discriminated 
against  in  that  particular  ? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Not  in  that  particular.  Xow,  why  not  take  our 
tax  from  real  estate  and  personal  property,  and  do  thie  same  thing  ? 
Our  contention  is  that  it  is  absolutely  wrong  and  unconstitutional 
to  take  our  real  estate  tax  and  personal  tax  and  use  that  here  as  a 
sj)ecial  fund,  and  go  into  partnership  with  the  United  States  on  the 
50  per  cent  basis,  and  use  that  fund  on  the  half-and-half  basis. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Then  your  organization  is  ag.unst  the  half- 
and-half  principle  ? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Exactly;  our  organization  is  against  the  half-and- 
half  principle.  We  contend  that  the  half-and-half  principle  has  been 
a  source  of  aggravation,  it  is  a  source  of  dissatisfaction,  it  is  a  source 
of  disagreement  among  the  citizens  of  Washington  and  before  Con- 
gress here  for  the  last  35  years.  It  has  never  been  lived  up  to  by 
Congress.  They  have  never  absolutely  carried  out  the  half-and-half 
plan,  and  we  want  it  abolished,  and  we  think  that  the  proper  course — 
and  we  think  the  people  of  Washington  are  with  us  when  they  under- 
stand it — is  to  abolish  the  half-and-half  plan.  We  want  to  do  away 
with  this  partnership  of  the  rich  man  and  the  poor  man,  and  we  want 
Congress  to  appropriate,  and  to  take  all  the  money,  because  it  is 
Federal  money — every  dollar  you  collect  from  my  citizens  here  is 
Federal  money.  Now%  whv  not  put  all  that  hito  the  Treasurv  of  the 
United  States,  and  then 'appropriate  S20,000,000,  815,000,000  or 
S40,000,00()  for  the  running  of  the  District  of  (\ilumbia.  That  is 
our  contention,  that  that  is  the  only  logical  and  honorable  and  square 
plan. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  is  substantially  what  this  bill  does? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  No,  sir;  this  bill  does  not  do  that.  Now,  I  want 
to  explain  that  to  you.  I  have  given  this  bill  careful  study.  That 
is  Senator  Works's  idea,  and  I  advocated  that  before  the  joint  com- 
mittee. I  contended  that  they  should  do  that  very  thing.  But 
what  did  the  committee  do?  The  committee  did  not  go  quite  so  far 
as  that.  The  conmiittee  said  that  the  half-and-half  should  ])e^ abol- 
ished, but  that  the  funds  collected  from  our  real  estate  and  personal 
taxes  should  be  set  aside  as  a  trust  fund  in  the  Treasury,  and  that 
should  be  used  as  far  as  it  went  and  any  deficiency  should  be  made 
up  by  the  Government.  That  is  objectionable  to  our  peojilc.  Every 
taxpayer  in  town  is  opposed  to  that  theory,  because  we  can  not  see 
a'ly  wisdom  in  that,  saying  that  the  real  estate  and  personal  tax 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  253 

should  be  used  as  a  trust  fund,  when  our  income  tax  and  customs 
tax  and  internal-revenue  tax  is  put  in  the  Treasury  as  misceUaneous 
receipts.     That  is  tlie  position  we  take.     It  is  illoj^ical  and  imjiroper. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryhiud.  Then,  if  you  should  take  all  the  tax 
you  raise  here  to  pay  the  running  expenses  of  tlie  District  of  Colum- 
bia, there  would  not  be  anything  for  the  Government  to  pay. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Now,  let  us  see  whether  there  would  or  not. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Under  those  conditions  the  Govern- 
ment would  not  pay  anything. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  You  collect  here  from  the  District  of  Columbia, 
from  all  sources,  in  the  neighborhood  now  of  about  $10,000,000  from 
our  ]3eople.  Why  do  you  collect  this  $8,000,000?  You  collect 
$8,000,000  from  real  estate  and  personal  tax.  I  tell  you,  gentlemen, 
as  I  told  the  Committee  on  1  iscal  Relations,  that  that  is  absolutely 
a  burden  upon  our  people,  a  hardship,  and  wrong.  We  can  not 
stand  it.  You  can  not  get  $8,000,000  out  of  real  estate  and  personal 
taxes  here  without  absolutely  bankrupting  this  town.  Why  did  that 
$8,000,000  occur?  Simply  because  the  assessors  were  under  an 
impression  that  they  wanted  to  get  the  Government  money,  and  they 
had  to  raise  our  taxes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  committee  which  investigated  this 
matter  said  that  the  taxes  were  fair. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Precisely;  and  I  say  we  do  not  want  them 
increased. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  amount  of  the  taxation  is  not  an 
excessive  tax.  Therefore,  if  you  took  all  of  that  tax,  which  is  not 
excessive,  which  you  certainly  can  not  gainsay  is  right,  that  the 
people  here  should  pay  a  fair  taxation — nobody  doubts  that 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Xot  at  all. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  if  that  assessment  is  fair,  and 
then  you  paid  in  addition  to  that,  which  is  fair,  the  amount  of  money 
you  propose  to  be  paid,  after  a  while  the  Government  would  not  have 
anytliing  to  pay. 

Senator  Curtis.  And  then  you  must  also  consider  that  you  have  a 
surplus  here  of  $2,000,000  out  of  that  collection. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  In  that  connection,  we  want  to  do  away  with  the 
partnership.  We  claim  that  whatever  the  amount  of  money,  five  or 
ten  or  fifteen  millions  of  dollars,  you  should  take  the  money  away 
from  the  District  of  Columbia  and  put  it  into  the  Treasury  like  any 
other  Federal  money,  and  then  appropriate  from  that,  you  under- 
stand, any  amount  you  may  desire.  That  is  the  position  we  take.  In 
this  connection,  I  want  to  say  right  here  to  the  committee,  a  very 
significant  thing  occurred  in  the  House  that  I  want  to  call  your 
attention  to.  I  do  not  suppose  that  you  gentlemen  have  noticed  it. 
In  the  discussion  of  this,  very  question  on  this  item  in  the  bill,  Mr. 
Page,  chairman  of  the  subcommittee  of  the  Committee  on  Appropria- 
tions in  charge  of  that  biU,  speaking  of  the  citizen  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  said  this: 

Mr.  Page  of  North  Carolina.  He  enjoys  the  same  right  of  protection  to  his  person 
and  property,  the  same  advantages  of  schools,  hospitals,  and  other  conveniences  that 
people  living  elsewhere  enjoy,  and  should  make  his  contribution  to  the  general  fund 
that  other  people  must  contribute  to  obtain  these  advantages — this  and  nothing  more. 

Therefore  I  believe  that  an  a.sse.ssment  and  tax  levj^  should  be  made  upon  privately 
owned  property  within  the  District  of  Columbia  in  like  amount  and  at  a  like  rate  as 


254  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

i5  placed  upon  the  property  of  people  li\'ing  la  other  places  enjoying  like  benefits,  and 
every  dollar  so  collected  should  be  paid,  not  into  a  supposed  municipal  treasury  but 
into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  to  the  credit  of  ''miscellaneous  receipts.""' 

There  is  the  chairman  of  the  House  committee  on  that  point. 
Now,  what  does  he  say  f m-ther  ?     He  saj's : 

Then  the  first  paragraph  of  this  bill  should  read:  ''The  following  sums  are  hereby 
appropriated,  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  for  the 
support  of  the  government  of  the  District  of  Columbia  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June 
30,  1917,  and  for  other  purposes." 

Then  he  goes  on: 

No  divided  obligation  or  responsibility,  no  quarreling  over  percentages,  but  a 
National  Capital  supported,  enlarged,  beautified  by  the  whole  people  from  the  Com- 
mon Treasury,  the  pride  of  the  Nation,  in  time  the  marvel  of  the  world,  and  a  constant 
joy  to  all  those  who  reside  in  it. 

I  believe  that  this  paragraph  should  be  adopted,  and  that  the  man  who  votes  to  have 
this  old,  inadequate  fiscal  policy  continued  is  voting  against  the  interest,  and  the  best 
interest,  of  the  Capital  of  this  Nation.     [Applause  on  the  Democratic  side.] 

I  have  understood  from  a  member  of  that  committee  that  if  you 
gentlemen  adopt  that  plan  that  Mr.  Page  suggested  there,  do  away 
witli  that  provision  there,  and  just  say  that  all  the  mone}^  appropriated 
here  is  to  be  paid  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  you  will 
have  no  trouble  in  conference  with  the  subcommittee  of  the  com- 
mittee on  Appropriations  of  the  House  in  getting  them  to  agree  to  it. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Then  you  approve  of  the  House  bill? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  I  approve  of  the  House  bill  onh'  to  this  extent, 
by  changing  that  provision  in  the  bill,  paragraphs  1  and  2;  and 
instead  of  putting  in  that,  we  say  here  appropriate  generally  from 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  That  is  the  position  we  "take  in 
it,  and  I  think  that  is  the  proper  and  logical  position  for  our  people 
to  take  on  that  proposition,  and  we  think  no  other  contention  could 
be  maintained. 

As  I  said  before  the  committee  on  fiscal  relations,  we  trust  Congress, 
We  believe  that  you  gentlemen  are  going  to  do  for  the  District  what 
ought  to  be  done;  but  we  say  that  we  can  not  stand  the  present 
condition  of  affairs.  You  are  falling  and  lying  down  on  us.  Get 
off  our  shoulders  and  let  us  alone,  and  let  us  pay  our  taxes  like  any 
other  citizens,  and  then  you  assume  the  entire  responsibiht}-  of  the 
District  of  Columbia.  If  you  do  not  do  that,  you  will  have  this  con- 
tention and  wrangling  here,  as  it  has  been  for  the  past  30  years. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Mr.  Lancaster,  I  have  been  nere  30  years,  and 
I  have  never  heard  of  any  wrangle  until  the  last  two  or  three  years. 

Mr.  Laxc ASTER.  I  have  heard  it  discussed  here  in  business  and  in 
citizens'  associations,  about  the  failure  to  keep  up  the  half-and-half. 

Senator  Gallixger.  They  were  all  in  favor  of  the  half-and-half  \ 

Mr.  Laxcaster.  Do  you  know  why  they  were  in  favor  of  it  i 
They  were  afraid  they  would  not  get  as  much  if  they  gave  it  up. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes. 

Mr.  Laxcaster.  That  is  what  Mr.  Macfarland  admitted  before  the 
joint  committee.  Senator  Works  and  Senator  Chilton  asked  Col. 
Worthington,  "If  Congress  does  its  dut}*  and  appropriates  all  that  is 
necessary  for  the  District  of  Columbia  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States,  you  wiU  be  satisfied?''  He  said,  "Certainly  we  will." 
They  asked  him,  "Then,  you  do  not  trust  Congress  ?''  He  said,  ''  Xo 
sir,  we  do  not."     Now,  on  the  other  hand,  the  people  that  I  represent 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1D17.  255 

all  advocatod  that  Congress  should  bo  trusted;  and  we  do  trust  it, 
and  that  is  the  position  we  take  about  it. 

Senator  Gallixger.  How  much  is  the  revenue  this  year? 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  is  about  $8,000,000. 

Senator  Gallixger.  We  are  considering  this  bill  as  friends  of  the 
District  and  friends  of  the  General  Government,  because  we  represent 
both.  The  District  has  raised  something  over  $8,000,000  this  year. 
You  would  put  that  in  the  General  Treasury,  and  then  the  Govern- 
ment would  contribute.     This  bill  carries  $11,000,000. 

Mr.  Laxcaster.  This  bill  carries  $11,000,000. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Would  you  appropriate  $11,000,000  or 
S12,000,000,  and  have  the  District  pay  $8,000,000  and  the  Government 
$4,000,000,  to  carry  on  the  District  of  Colum])ia  ( 

Mr.  Lancaster.  WTiatever  you  think  is  right. 

Mr.  Gallixger.  Do  you  thhik  that  is  right '. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Yes" 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  is  what  I  wanted  to  get  at. 

Mr.  Laxcaster.  If  you  gentlemen  collect  whatever  you  may  get 
from  us  as  taxation,  reasonable  taxation,  and  take  that  and  put  it 
in  the  Treasury,  then  when  you  appropriate  you  will  not  act  with 
an  eye  always  on  what  we  have  raised,  ])ut  you  will  appropriate  with 
a  view  to  the  national  character  of  the  District  and  the  necessities 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  as  the  National  Capital.  As  it  is  now,  you 
are  absolutely  bound  and  limited  in  your  appropriations,  because 
you  o\Aj  appropriate  one-half.  If  you  appropriate  to-day  $1 6,000,000 
why  do  you  do  it?  You  do  it  because  $8,000,000  are  raised  by  taxa- 
tion from  the  District,  and  you  put  up  an  ec^ual  amount.  If  we  did 
not  have  that  provision  for  an  ecjual  contribution  from  the  Govern- 
ment you  would  appropriate  more  than  $8,000,000  if  necessary  to 
make  this  a  capital  of  which  the  people  can  be  proud. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Many  think  if  it  were  left  with  Con- 
gress, Congress  would  appropriate  less  rather  than  more. 

Mr.  Laxcaster.  We  have  got  to  trust  Congress.  I  am  willing 
to  trust  them.  Sometimes  we  have  an  economical  Congress,  of 
course. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  House  has  appropriated 
$11,000,000  in  this  bill. 

Mr.  Laxcaster.  They  expect  you  to  put  on  the  balance. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  is  appropriated  must  be  by 
joint  action. 

Mr.  Laxcaster.  I  have  heard 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Oh,  you  can  not  go  by  what  you  hear, 
but  we  must  go  by  the  bill  that  they  have  sent  us.     The}"  have  appro- 
priated $11,000,000,  indicating  that  they  are  not  willing  to  appropriate 
any  more.     Under  the  law  you  raised  $8,000,000  and  the  Government 
pays  about  $3,000,000.     Now,  we  do  not  make  laws  here,  ourselves. 
The  law  has  to  be  made  by  both  Houses  of  Congress.     We  can  not 
control  by  what  we  want  to  do,  nor  can  they  by  what  they  want  to  do. 
Mr.  Laxcaster.  You  have  as  much  to  say  about  that  as  they  have. 
Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  understand  that. 
Mr.  Laxcaster.  Or  a  little  bit  more. 
Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes. 

Mr.  Laxcaster.  You  have  eight  millions  of  money  that  you  can 
appropriate  here  in  this  bill.     I  think  you  will  do  it.     Why  turn  it  into 


256  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

the  Treasury  '.  I  want  to  say  that  if  you  will  appropriate  everj' 
dollar  of  that  according  to  the  half-and-half  plan,  even,  and  go  no 
further  than  that,  you  will  have  very  little  opposition  in  the  House. 

Senator  Gallixger.  You  have  not  sat  in  the  conference  committees. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  I  am  merely  telling  3'ou  what  I  am  getting  from 
Members  of  the  House. 

Senator  Gallixger.  But  we  deal  with  them  right  here  at  this  table. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  I  do  not  think  you  will  have  any  difficulty  in 
getting  them  to  agree  to  it. 

Senator  Smith  of  Mar3dand.  That  is  your  opinion.  We  have  the 
facts  to  go  upon  here  as  to  what  they  have  done. 

Ml'.  Lancaster.  Xow,  I  have  read  you  what  the  chairman  of  the 
appropriations  committee  said  in  the  House.  Now,  meet  him  on 
those  grounds.  He  says  he  is  willing  now  to  go  to  work  and  ap- 
propriate all  the  money  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  L'nited  States, 
and  turn  our  money  into  the  Treasury  of  the  L'nited  States.  Mr. 
Page  can  not  go  back  on  that  record.  He  is  the  chairman  of  the 
subcommittee  in  charge  of  the  bill.  He  takes  the  position  exactly 
that  Vv-e  contend  for,  and  that  Senator  Works  contends  for.  If  you 
gentlemen  appropriate  less  or  more  it  is  up  to  the  House  and  to  the 
people  of  the  Lnited  States. 

Of  course,  I  can  understand.  Senator  Gallinger,  you  have  been  on 
the  committee  a  number  of  years  and  you  are  a  member  of  the  District 
Committee,  and  I  have  been  before  vou  gentlemen  and  before  the 
House  committee,  and  asked  certain  tilings,  and  what  is  the  answer  ? 
The  answer  has  been.  "There  is  a  deficiency,  and  we  have  got  to  be 
very  economical." "  That  happens  sometimes,  and  of  course  that 
controls  the  committee:  but  where  there  is  a  full  Treasury,  you  gentle- 
men are  more  liberal.  That  is  the  position  we  take  in  relation  to  the 
half-and-half,  and  I  lay  that  before  you. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  Treasury  is  not  ver}^  full  now. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Of  course  that  is  a  matter  that  you  gentlemen 
must  determine. 

increase     of     salaries     of     COMMISSIONERS     OF     THE     DISTRICT     OF 
COLUMBIA. 

The  next  proposition  that  I  wanted  to  determine  here,  that  the 
House  has  not  put  in  but  the  commissioners  have  recommended,  is  an 
increase  of  the  salaries  of  the  commissioners  from  §5,000  to  87,500 
each.  Our  association  has  taken  that  matter  up,  as  taxpayers,  and 
we  have  passed  the  following  resolution,  which  I  would  like  to  put 
in  the  record.  This  matter  is  one  that  we  regard  as  very  important  to 
our  taxpayers,  and  we  want  you  gentlemen  to  give  it  careful  con- 
sideration.    The  resolution  is  as  follows: 

Whereas  the  commissioners  in  their  annual  estimates  for  expenses  of  the  District 
.government  for  the  fiscal  year  1917  have  recommended  an  increase  of  their  salaries 
from  S.5.000  to  $7,500  a  year,  without  any  request  or  petition  from  any  organized 
association  of  citizens;  and 

Whereas  this  increase  will  give  them  the  same  salary  as  a  Senator  or  Representative 
in  Congress  and  more  than  the  judges  of  oiu-  supreme  court  and  court  of  appeals;  and 

Whereas  the  job  is  not  worth  more  than  S.5,000  a  year:  Therefore  be  it 

Hesohtfl  b>i  the  Citizens  Xorthtrest  Suburban  Association  iii  public  meeting  assembled 

this  1th  day  of  January,  1916,  That  we  earnestly  protest  against  this  increase  or  any 

increase  of  the  salaries  of  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  as  the  present 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  25'? 

salary  is  amply  sufficiont  for  the  services  performed;  and  if  tlie  present  commissioners 
are  liot  satisfied  witli  the  salary  they  now  receive,  which  is  more  than  they  ever 
earned  before  in  private  life,  nothing  would  become  them  so  well  as  to  resign  their 
office.  We  regard  this  attempt  to  inci-ease  their  salaries  at  the  expense  of  our  heavily 
taxed  citizens^as  a  flagrant  scheme  of  organized  official  graft,  and  we  strongly  petitioij 
the  Sixty-fourth  Congress  to  disapprove  this  selfish  raid  on  the  Public  Treasury  and 
to  protect  the  taxpayersof  the  whole  country  against  thisofficial  greed.  If  anysalariea 
should  be  increased,  it  should  be  the  salaries  of  the  poorly  paid  employees,  but  the 
commissioners  failed  to  recommend  any  such  increase:  Beit 

Further  resolved,  That  we  appeal  to  all  our  fellow  citizens  and  organized  associationa 
to  protest  against  this  official  graft  and  use  every  effort  to  defeat  this  useless  expense: 
Beit 

Finalhj  resolved,  That  a  certified  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  the 
president  of  this  association,  to  the  District  Committees  of  the  Senate  and  House,  to 
the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  to  the  Federation  of  Citizens' 
Associations. 

A  true  copy. 

A.  J.  YowEi-L,  Seaetary. 

That  is  the  action  of  our  association  on  that  matter,  and  it  is 
approved  by  the  federation. 

Senator  Dillingham.  What  is  the  average  attendance  at  these 
meetings  of  your  association  '\ 

Mr.  Lancaster.  We  have  from  40  to  50.  Our  membership  has 
been  250.     It  is  not  that  many  now. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  many  have  you  now  ? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  One  hundred  and  fifty. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  have  an  attendance  of  40  to  50  'i 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Yes;  an  average  of  from  40  to  50. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Was  that  resolution  unanimously  passed  ? 

^Ii\  Lancaster.  Yes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Is  your  association  unanimous  in  the  views  it 
expresses  ? 

Air.  Lancaster.  Yes.  That  is  the  resolution,  which  I  have  read. 
Of  course,  I  am  giving  you  this  officially. 

Senator  Dillingham.  What  part  of  the  city  does  your  organization 
cover  ? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  We  were  the  first  association  organized,  20  years 
ago 

Senator  Dillingham.  No,  but  now;  at  the  present  time^ 

Mr.  Lancaster.  It  embraces  the  territory  west  of  Rock  Creek, 
north  of  Georgetown  to  the  Potomac  River  and  the  District  line^ 
and  it  so  represents  it  to-day. 

Senator  Gallinger.  How  many  associations  are  there  now, 
suburban  associations? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  I  do  not  know  how  many  suburban  associatiDUS 
there  are.  There  are  25  or  30  associations  of  citizens  around  the 
District. 

Mr.  Clayton.  There  are  40. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Does  any  other  association  take  the  ground 
yours  does  on  that  subject? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  The  Brightwood  Association  takes  the  same 
ground. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Are  you  sure  of  that  ? 

Ml".  Lancaster.  Yes;  I  am  a  member  of  that  association.  They 
passed  a  resolution.     That  is  the  position  we  take  on  that. 

45737—16 n 


258  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

MUNICIPAL    HOSPITAL. 

The  next  question  we  take  up  here  is  with  reference  to  a  municipal 
hospital. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Mr.  Lancaster,  we  shall  have  to  ask 
you  to  be  brief. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  I  am  going  to  be  as  brief  as  I  can. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  We  have  many  important  matters 
here.  You  must  recognize  that  we  can  not  give  very  much  time  to 
anyone.  There  are  other  gentlemen  here  now.  If  you  will  have  those 
resolutions  put  in  the  record  we  will  investigate  them. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  They  are  very  short.  What  I  am  going  to  say 
now  is  this.  I  am  not  here  of  my  own  volition.  I  am  not  getting  a 
dollar  for  this.  I  am  here  as  the  official  representative  of  a  large  body 
of  citizens  interested  in  District  affairs,  and  I  am  discharging  my  duty 
to  the  best  of  my  ability. 

There  is  a  proposition  here  for  a  municipal  hospital  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  and  the  association  passed  the  following  resolution  on 
that : 

Whereas  the  Washington  Asylum  and  Jail,  located  on  the  Eastern  Branch,  has  been 
condemned  by  our  people  generally  as  insanitary  and  wholly  unfit  for  the  purposes 
used;  and 

Whereas  Congress  in  the  act  approved  July  21,  1914,  authorized  the  building  of  a  new 
hospital,  to  be  called  the  Gallinger  Hospital,  in  honor  of  that  constant  and  faithful 
friend  of  Washington  for  30  years,  Hon.  Jacob  H.  Gallinger,  Senator  from  the  State 
of  Xew  Hampshire,  and  did  appropriate  the  sum  of  815, 000  for  preparation  of  plans 
and  specifications  for  th-^  erection  of  hospital  building-;  and 

Whereas  the  commissioners  of  the  District  of  ('olum})ia  have  included  in  their  esti- 
mates to  Congress  an  appropriation  of  1150,000  toward  the  construction  of  said 
Gallinger  Hospital  at  a  total  cost  of  81,000,000:  Therefore  be  it 
Resolved  by  the  Citizens'  Northivest  Suburban  Association  in  public  meeting  assembled 

(his  oth  day  of  May.  1916,  That  we  urgently  appeal  to  the  present  Congress  to  include 

Slid  estimate  in  the  District  appropriation  bill  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 

1917,  as  we  regard  this  public  improvement  of  prime  necessity  and  importance  to  the 

entire  District  of  Columbia,  and  we  call  upon  all  our  fellow  citizens  to  unite  in  this 

appeal:  Be  it 

Further  resolved,  That  a  certified  copy  of  this  resolution  be  transmitted  to  the  Senate 

and  House  committees  on  appropriations,  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of 

Columbia  and  to  the  Federation  of  Citizens'  Associations. 
A  true  copy. 

A.  J.  YowELi,,  Secretary. 

Now,  I  want  to  say  thut  that  matter  is  one  of  the  most  important 
niiitters  for  the  health  and  sanitary  arrangements  of  the  District  of 
Columbia.  There  has  been  some  agitation  in  that  lociition,  out  in  that 
iu>ighborhood,  about  Saul's  subdivision  and  on  T'ourteenth  Street,  in 
(>])p()sitioii  to  a  hospital.  I  believed  that  hos]iital  would  be  a  great 
l)eneht  to  our  peo])le,.and  I  l)elieve  so  now,  and  this  resolution  was 
]):,ssed  by  our  ])oo]ile  in  favor  of  this  hospital.  If  you  will  call  the 
I  rchitects  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  have  those  ])lans  Ix'fore  you, 
you  will  see  that  they  are  ])lans  that  are  on  a  great  scale,  they  have 
been  pre]iared  with  a  great  deal  of  care  by  some  one  from  -material 
gathered  in  Euroj^e  as  well  as  in  this  country,  and  the  erection  of  that 
hospital  will  l)e  of  great  benefit  to  the  citizens  of  Washington,  and  we 
h'>])e  that  you  will  include  in  that  the  recommendations  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  District  of  Columbia  for  $110, ()()()  and  not  allow  a 
sm;ill,  hysterical  agitation  to  impede  what  we  regard  as  one  of  the 
prime  necessities  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  a  municipal  hospital  of 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1017.  259 

this  high  standurd  and  high  character.     We  leave  that  with  you  for 
your  consideration. 

ASSESSMENT    FOR    STREET    PxVVING. 

The  next  proposition  we  have  ]iere  is  a  matter  tliat  affects  our 
people.  The  last  Congress  passed  what  is  known  as  tlie  Borland 
amendment;  that  is  to  say,  that  all  property  abutting  on  streets  in 
the  District  of  Columbia  paved  witli  asphalt,  bituminous,  or  macadam, 
etc.,  should  pay  the  cost  of  paving  20  feet  on  the  street  abutting  on 
the  property.  The  commissioners  held  that  that  only  applied  to 
asphalt  and  bituminous  pavements,  and  not  to  macadam  or  cement 
work.  That  exempted  all  suburban  and  newer  Washington.  It 
applied  only  to  the  streets  of  Washington,  but  exempted  all  the  other 
property.  Now  the  House  has  put  in  an  appropriation  tliat  makes 
that  Borland  amendment  apply  to  all  tiie  streets  in  tJu^  suburbs  as 
well  as  those  in  the  city  of  Washington  proper,  and  we  contend  that 
that  is  wrong.  In  talkmg  with  Mr.  Tinkham,  who  is  on  the  com- 
mittee on  that  bill,  a  Member  of  Congress  from  Boston,  he  told  me  he 
knew  of  no  city  in  the  United  States  that  did  that.  He  said  Boston 
did  not  do  it,  and  he  knew  of  no  city  in  the  United  States  where  that 
was  done;  and  he  opposed  it  ui  the  Ilouse.  Our  people  feel  that  that 
would  be  a  great  hardship  on  this  suburban  property.  Here  we  are 
paymg  a  very  heavy  tax  on  unimproved  property.  We  made  a 
suggestion  there  and  asked  for  an  assessment  to  improve  the  streets. 
We  can  not  improve  a  street  until  we  get  an  order,  and  we  are  assessed 
for  that,  and  it  would  be  absolute  confiscation,  and  we  ask  you 
gentlemen  to  oppose  that  and  strike  it  out.  x\s  these  gentlemen  said 
a  while  ago  here,  our  people  are  taxed  very  heavily,  and  it  is  a  burden 
upon  us  in  many  ways,  and  we  do  not  think  you  ought  to  increase  the 
tax  without  a  popular  demand.  We  do  not  think  there  has  been  a 
resolution  passed  by  any  body  in  Wasliington  advocating  this  legis- 
lation. Wh}'  should  you  put  it  in '.  "Why  should  \<d\\  burden  our 
people,  when  we  want  to  improve  our  streets  and  our  property  so 
that  we  can  build  on  our  property,  by  an  additional  tax  {  We  liave 
to  pay  a  tax  on  curbing  and  sidewalk  in  addition  to  the  real  estate 
tax,  and  we  claim  that  is  a  burden  that  ought  not  to  be  imposed  upon 
us.  I  submit  the  resolution  in  regard  to  tliis  tax,  to  be  put  into  the 
record. 

(The  resolution  referred  to  is  here  printed  in  the  record  in  full,  as 
follows:) 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Citizens'  N'orthireii  Suhvrhan  Association  in  public  meeting  assem- 
bled this  2d  day  of  June,  1916,  That  we  strongly  protest  against  the  new  legislation  in 
H.  R.  15774,  the  District  appropriation  bill,  section  9,  page  97,  just  passed  the  House 
pro\iding  that  half  the  cost  for  jjaving  or  repaying  of  any  roadway  20  feet  from  the 
side  thereof  shall  be  paid  by  the  abutting  property,  as  we  believe  the  same  unjust  to 
the  private  o\\Tier  and  is  not  demanded  by  our  property  owners,  and  this  whole  cost 
should  be  paid,  as  heretofore,  out  of  the  general  taxes.  This  will  be  a  burdensome 
tax  on  suburban  property,  now  excessively  taxed;  be  it 

Further  resolved.  That  a  certified  copy  of  this  resolution  be  transmitted  by  our  presi- 
dent to  the  Members  of  the  Senate  and  House  and  the  Federation  of  Citizens'  Associa- 
tions. 

A  true  copy. 

A.J.  YowELL,  Secretary. 


260  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPE0PRIATI0:N'    BILL,  1917. 

STREET    IMPROVEMENT. 

That  disposes  of  those  matters  so  far  as  the  resolutions  of  the  asso- 
ciations are  concerned,  and  I  will  take  up  now  the  items  of  the  bill. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  many  items?  Because  we  can 
not  afford  to  go  to  every  item  in  the  bill  there.  Will  you  just  state 
it  in  a  concrete  way? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  These  items  are  made  by  our  association  in  open 
meeting  after  very  careful  consideration,  and  they  are  finally  adopted. 
On  the  first  page  you  will  see  all  the  items  which  are  included  in  our 
estimates  to  the  commissioners  and  approved  unanimously  by  our  peo- 
ple. Nobody  is  opposing  this  at  all.  These  items  are  put  in  there  and 
sent  down  to  the  commissioners,  and  then  brought  before  Congress, 
to  you  gentlemen ,  for  consideration.  Tliese  were  sent  b}"  us,  I  suppose 
officially,  and  the  commissioners  went  over  them,  and  of  all  the 
various  items  that  we  have  got,  they  included  in  the  bill  only  two 
small  items.  We  ask  you  gentlemen  to  kindly  go  over  these  items  we 
have  given  you  here,  with  our  reasons  in  writing,  and  why  we  want 
these  improvements  made  and  why  we  ask  you  for  these  small 
amounts.  The  whole  amount  is  not  over  S6,000.  We  ask  you  to 
put  these  in  for  the  purpose  of  giving  us  an  opportunity  to  build  in 
our  section  and  improve  our  property.  We  can  not,  of  course,  afford 
to  be  paying  taxes  on  unimproved  property  and  getting  nothing  out  of 
it,  and  we  can  only  build  on  the  property  when  we  can  get  the  sanitary 
and  municipal  facilities,  and  until  we  can  get  the  streets  opened  and 
get  sidewalks  and  sewer  and  water  our  property  is  valueless,  and 
we  can  not  do  anything  with  it. 

With  that  statement,  and  with  the  paper  before  you,  I  hope  you 
gentlemen  will  take  it  up  and  put  in  there  such  items  as  you  think 
we  ought  to  have,  because  all  of  them  are  of  importance  in  our  sec- 
tion, and  they  are  asked  for  by  unanimous  vote  by  the  people  in  our 
section. 

GRADING    AND    IMPROVEMENT    OF    BELMONT    STREET. 

In  addition  to  that,  I  desire  to  call  the  committee's  attention  to 
an  item  which  was  introduced  by  Senator  Chilton  in  the  Senate 
on  June  20,  and  I  refer  to  page  11066  of  the  Congressional  Record, 
where  Senator  Chilton  submitted  this  amendment.  I  read  from 
page  11066  of  the  Record  as  follows: 

Mr.  Chilton  submitted  an  amendment  proposing  to  appropriate  S7,500  to  grade  and 
improve  Belmont  Street  from  Sixteenth  to  Seventeenth  Streets  NVV.,  in  the  city  of 
Washington,  intended  to  be  proposed  by  him  to  the  District  of  Columbia  appropriation 
bill,  which  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia  and  ordered  to 
be  printed. 

That  matter  the  property  owiM'rs  in  that  section  would  like  to 
have  iiK-luded  in  the  District  appropriation  bill.  As  you  are  aware, 
Am})assj\dor  White  has  built  a  very  handsome  home  up-  between 
Superior  Street  and  Belmont  Street.  This  street  comes  in  south  of 
his  house,  between  him  and  Senator  Henderson's  house,  and 
ex-Senator  Scott  has  made  an  im])rovement  thcu'e  costing  about 
870,000,  on  Belmoiit  Street,  on  Meridian  Hill.  This  street  is  now 
nothing  but  a  (hrt  road,  dusty  when  it  is  (hy  and  nmddy  when  it  is 
wet.  Mr.  Scott  sent  that  item  to  the  conmiissioners,  and  I  think  he 
sent  it  to  you,  and  you  probably  have  referred  it  to  the  committee. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  l;)!7.  261 

They  have  recommended  the  eost,  and  we  ask  you  to  iiu'hide  that 
S7,500,  to  grade  ar.d  nnprove  I?ehnont  wStreet  in  that  square,  in  your 
estimates  of  appropriation. 

I  think  that  conehides  all  that  I  have  to  say,  and  there  are  some 
gentlemen  here  who  want  to  be  heard.  Dr.  Chappell  desires  to  be 
heard. 

HALF-AND-HALF    PRINCIPLE — AGAIN. 

STATEMENT  OF  DE.  JOHN  W.  CHAPPELL. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marvland.  What  organization  do  you  represent, 
Doctor? 

Dr.  Chappell.  I  am  a  member  of  the  Citizens'  Northwest  Suburban 
Association.  I  had  not  intended  to  say  anything  particularly  to-day, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  I  know  your  time  is  very  much  limitiul,  and  I 
will  not  say  much,  but  I  appreciate  the  privilege  of  having  an  oppor- 
tunity to  sa}'  an3"thing.  There  is  much  that  I  would  like  to  say,  be- 
cause I  have  been  a  resident  of  the  District  all  my  life,  and  my  an- 
cestors back  for  tliree  generations,  and  of  course  I  feel  an  interest. 
I  have  taught  school  here  and  so  on.  I  am  sorry  to  have  to  say  at 
the  outset  that  I  will  offer  what  is  not  approved  by  any  resolution, 
but  what  is  not  in  favor  of  what  has  been  presented  by  Mr.  Lancaster, 
and  I  do  believe,  until  some  other  plan  is  adopted,  it  is  safer  and 
better  for  the  people  of  the  District  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States  for  that  matter,  and  the  Congress,  to  stick,  as  near  as  possible, 
to  the  half-and-half  plan  until  we  get  some  other. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  belong  to  the  same  associa- 
tion as  Mr.  Lancaster  ? 

Dr.  Chappell.  1  belong  to  the  same  association;  yes,  sir.  I  had 
the  privilege  of  appearing  before  the  joint  select  committee  that  was 
investigating  this  matter  of  the  half-and-half,  or  of  the  proportionate 
amount  of  the  expense  of  the  District  to  be  borne  by  the  United 
States  and  the  District  of  Columbia  in  the  upkeep  of  the  municipal 
affairs  of  the  District.  I  presented  my  argument,  and  here  it  is  in 
the  hearings  of  the  fiscal  committee,  and  it  is  perhaps  pretty  lengthy, 
and  I  do  not  intend  to  read  it,  but  I  should  like  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  fact  that  it  begins  on  page  1154,  wath  a  supplement  statement 
in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  w^ord  "tax,"  which  I  had  not  considered 
at  the  time,  so  as  to  make  myself  understood  as  I  washed  to  1)e,  on 
page  1685. 

I  presented  a  plan  as  to  upon  what  the  relationship — the  amount 
to  be  paid  by  the  United  States  Government  and  the  District  of 
Columbia— should  be  based.  I  went  into  it  very  carefully,  and  I  still 
think,  notwithstanding  that  I  see  no  one  has  taken  it  up.  it  is  really 
the  only  and  the  proper  method  by  which  we  should  determine 
the  proportional  amounts  to  be  paid  by  the  two  parties  concerned. 
I  based  it  upon  the  relative  holdings  of  the  two  parties  concerned — 
the  relative  holdings  of  the  people  of  the  L^nited  States  and  the 
District  of  Columbia — and  I  gave  my  arguments  there,  and  I  lielieve 
[  am  wholly  correct,  that  not  only  the  real  estate,  but  the  buildings 
and  improvements  as  weW,  the  amount  to  be  borne  by  each  party, 
should  be  determined  by  the  relative  holdings,  and  I  also  claim  that 
Lt  is  not  a  difTicult  matter  to  determine  what  are  the  relative  hold- 
ings of  the  two  parties  concerned,  and  to  that  extent,  of  course,  I 


262  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL^  1&17. 

have  to  disagree  with  our  distinguished  president,  who  has  labored 
hard,  I  bcheve,  for  the  betterment  of  the  people  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  very  largely  for  the  people  of  our  section. 

I  wish  it  were  possible  that  the  committee  should  find  it  possible 
to  glance  at  my  proposition.  It  is  an  elaboration,  I  might  say,  of  the 
half-and-half  plan.  The  half-and-half  is  a  guess  at  it.  My  plan  is 
that  you  would  determine  the  value  of  all  the  holdings  of  the  two 
parties  concerned.  That  is  the  way  taxes  are  determined  every- 
where in  this  country.  They  are  based  upon  the  relative  holdings 
of  the  parties  concerned.  Senator  Works  said  the  Government  makes 
all  the  valuation  here.  I  said,  "You  make  your  share,  but  it  is  the 
values  that  the  people  make  that  we  tax."  It  seems  illogical,  in 
some  respects,  to  tax  a  man  when  he  makes  improvements,  but  that 
is  what  you  do,  and  nobody  has  ever  proposed  a  better  plan.  I  do 
not  know  of  an}^  better  way.  So  that,  in  arriving  at  the  relative 
amounts  that  the  people  of  the  District  and  the  people  of  the  United 
States  are  to  pay,  I  think,  in  m}^  judgment,  it  would  be  better  to 
stick  to  the  half-and-half  plan  until  we  adopt  a  better  one,  and  my 
plan,  I  believe,  although  it  may  seem  a  little  egotistical,  is  on  the  same 
line. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Then  our  understanding  of  vour 
position  is  that  for  the  present  you  would  stick  to  the  half-and-half  I 

Dr.  CiiAPPELL.  Yes,  sir;  I  would  prefer  that,  because  I  think  it  is 
more  definite.  We  have  no  objection  to  pay  our  reasonable  taxes. 
This  last  assessment  I  believe  is  a  httle  in  excess,  and  particularly  if 
you  are  going  to  burden  us  with  street  improvements,  make  us  pay 
for  tlie  improvement  in  front  of  our  property  on  the  streets,  which 
has  always  heretofore  been  paid  out  of  the  general  fund.  We  would 
be  taxed  so  heavily  as  before  many  years  to  make  the  District  of 
Columbia  a  very  undesirable  place  for  an  average  individual  to  live. 
It  is  now  as  much  as  I  can  do  to  make  a  living  and  pay  my  debts  and 
my  taxes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  understand  you  to  say  that  you  would  com- 
mence by  determining  the  value  of  the  holdings  of  the  citizens  and 
the  value  of  the  holdings  of  the  Government? 

Dr.  CiiAPPELL.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  How  would  you  ascertain  the  value  of  the 
Government  property  in  the  District  of  Columbia?  INIy  attention 
was  called  some  years  ago  to  a  statement  of  the  Government  property 
which  they  thought  should  be  taxed,  and  they  taxed  the  streets 
against  the  Government,  and  I  think  the  Washington  Monument  was 
taxed  against  the  Government.  The  parks  here  were  all  taxed  at 
so  much.  They  measured  along  the  borders,  and  they  multijjlied 
and  got  tlic  number  of  square  feet  in  the  parks,  and  aU  that  sort  of 
thing.  What  would  be  the  basis  on  which  you  would  ascertain  the 
value  of  the  property  held  by  the  Government? 

Dr.  CiiAPPELL.  I  see  the  possibility  of  getting  into  sonfe  incon- 
gruous condition. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Dr.  CiiAPPELL.  But  my  plan  is  this,  and  it  seems  very  feasible, 
so  far  as  the  real  estate  is  concerned.  We  know  how  much  land  is 
owned  privately  by  the  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  That 
is  determined,  and  it  is  on  record.     The  remainder  of  that  is  owned 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  263 

by  the  United  States  Government.  The  title  is  in  the  United  States 
Government. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Undoubtedly. 

Dr.  Chappell.  Of  course  that  would  include  streets.  So  far  as 
I  am  personally  concerned,  I  am  willing  that  the  streets  be  left  out 
and  not  considered,  because  they  are  used  by  the  people. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes. 

Dr.  Chappell.  But  as  the  streets  are  owned  by  the  United  States 
Government,  and  could  not  be  used  by  the  municipality  in  case  it 
was  a  definite  entity  itself,  in  case  it  wanted  to  raise  money  upon  the 
District  of  Columbia — borrow  money  as  other  municipalities  do-— 
it  seems  to  me  it  would  not  be  inequitable  to  apportion  the  streets 
to  the  United  States  Government.  However,  that  need  not  neces- 
sarily be  contended  for,  nor  would  I  contend  for  it.  The  remainder, 
as  I  judge,  of  the  property,  speaking  in  a  general  aiul  broad  way, 
after  deducting  what  the  people  own,  belongs  to  the  United  States. 
Kow,  we  know  the  value  of  that  property:  so  that  I  would  simply 
by  the  rule  of  three  determine  what  is  the  A'alue  of  the  land  owned 
by  the  United  States  and  by  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  By  virtue  of  the  fact  that  this  is 
the  Ca])ital  of  the  United  States,  are  there  not  many  expenses  in- 
curred here  that  are  not  incurred  in  other  cities  as  necessary  to  make 
it  a  municipality,  that  people  in  other  cities  would  not  have  to  pay? 
Are  not  the  streets  wider,  and  are  there  not  taxes  brought  about  on 
that  account,  and  inasmuch  as  this  whole  matter  is  controlled  by  the 
Government,  and  the  amount  of  money  spent  by  the  United  States 
Government  is  fixed,  is  it  fair  that  this  city  should  be  treated  in  just 
the  way  that  other  cities  are  treated  ?  For  instance,  in  this  city  you 
can  not  encourage  manufacturing  or  industrial  interests  that  w^ould 
increase  the  taxable  basis,  because  the  Government  does  not  want 
such  interests  established  here.  At  the  same  time,  there  is  the  cost 
of  the  various  improvements  that  have  been  made  because  the  Govern- 
ment wants  it  as  a  capital  city,  not  as  a  city  to  do  business  in,  but 
for  different  purposes,  possibly.  Now,  is  it  fair  that  they  should  be 
regarded  just  in  the  way,  and  that  their  property  should  be  taxed 
in  proportion  only  to  that  owned  by  the  people  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  ^ 

Dr.  Chappell.  It  seems  to  me  that  that  would  be  a  fair  way. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes  ?     Very  well. 

Dr.  Chappell.  Suppose  a  private  individual  were  to  come  in  and 
purchase  a  portion  of  the  property,  or  all  of  it,  in  the  District.  John 
D.  Rockefeller  has  the  money  to  do  it.  He  could  purchase  the  whole 
thing.  Would  we  exempt  him  from  taxation  if  he  purchased  it  and 
owned  it  ? 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  We  understand  jour  view  about  it. 

Dr.  Chappell.  That  is  my  view  in  regard  to  the  determination  of 
the  relative  proportions,  and  it  would  do  for  all  time.  In  50  years 
from  now  the  ITnited  States  Government  most  likely — it  is  not  im- 
probable— will  own  one-half  of  the  remaining  property  that  is  now 
owned  by  the  people.  What  are  you  doing  to  do  then  ?  You  have 
got  to  change  your  relation  here,  or  adopt  some  such  plan  as  Mr. 
Lancaster  has  suggested,  or  let  it  depend  upon  the  generosity  of  Con- 
gress; but  I  beUeve  in  having  a  fixed  and  definite  basis  so  as  to  know 


264  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

from  year  to  year  just  what  we  are  going  to  do  and  what  we  are  going 
t  o  have.     I  will  not  say  anything  more  upon  this. 

We  have  some  vicious  legislation  here,  hut  this  committee,  I 
believe,  is  not  going  to  sonsider  anything  of  the  kind  to-day. 

So  far  as  our  recommendations  for  improvements  in  our  suburbs 
are  concerned.  I  believe  that  all  of  those  street  improvements  there 
are  essential,  and  I  should  like  to  see  them  executed.  I  understand 
that  the  House  has  cut  out  all  but  two  or  three. 

IMPROVEMENT    OF    LITTLE    FALLS    ROAD. 

I  do  not  know  how  many  you  are  going  to  cut  out,  but  I  am  going 
to  ask  you  to  include  one  and  not  cut  that  one  out,  because  I  think  ii: 
is  eminently  necessary,  and  if  some  da}^  when  you  have  an  opportunity 
to  journey  to  the  suburbs  you  will  go  from  Tennallytown  to  the 
Conduit  Road  and  if  you  do  not  agree  with  me  then  you  can  cut  it 
out.  The  item  is  for  Little  Falls  Road.  It  is  on  page  12  in  our  appro- 
priations. It  is  nothing  but  a  dirt  road  now,  and  it  is  the  best  road 
that  we  have  from  our  section  west  to  the  western  part  of  the  District, 
to  the  Conduit  Road.  There  is  another  road  called  the  Chain  Bridge 
Road,  which  is  an  abomination,  and  we  ought  to  have  one  respectable 
road  joining  the  contiguous  parts  of  our  territory.  I  have  contended 
for  this  for  3'ears,  have  gone  before  the  engineer  commissioner  and 
the  engineer  of  highways,  and  requested  this  from  year  to  year,  but 
it  seems  to  be  continuously  left  out.  They  will  go  along  there  and 
rake  the  mud  off  of  the  sides  and  pile  it  iii  the  middle  of  the  road, 
and  there  it  stays. 

Senator  Gallixger.  What  is  the  length  of  that  road  ? 

Dr.  Chappell.  The  length  of  that  bad  road  is  about  a  mile.  It 
needs  widening  and  macadamizing.  The  girls'  reform  school  is  out 
there.  Ex-Senator  Scott  is  building  a  new  home  right  at  the  eastern 
end  of  that  bad  portion  of  that  road.  There  are  other  things  I  would 
like  to  speak  of,  but  I  will  not  tresspass  upon  your  time.  I  am  a 
physician  to  the  reform  school — at  least,  I  attend  there  occasionally — 
ancl  I  have  to  go  over  there  in  the  wintertime,  and  my  machine  gets 
stuck  in  the  road,  and  I  have  a  terrible  time.  Of  course  in  the  sum- 
mertime that  road  is  more  or  less  crowded. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Did  the  commissioners  estimate  for 
that  item? 

Mr.  Lancaster.  No,  sir;  they  only  estimated  for  two  or  three  of 
these  items  that  we  sul3mitted  to  them. 

Dr.  Chappell.  The  engineer  commissioner  stated  to  me  that  it 
would  cost  about  that  amount.     It  may  coS't  more  or  less. 

Senator  Gallinger.  How  much  is  that  ? 

Dr.  Chappell.  $9,000.  I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  the  courtesy 
of  this  hearing. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  CHARLES  W.  RUSSELL. 

Mr.  Russell.  I  have  a  letter  here  from  Mr.  Louis  P.  Shoemak(u\ 
saying: 

I  expect  the  Appropriation  Committee  haviiii;  eharye  of  the  Distrirt  hill  will  accord 
us  a  hearing,  and  I  have  written  to  Senator  Sniitli  asking  him  to  designate  a  time.  I 
may  be  awav  from  the  citv  and  not  able  to  appear.  I  \\'ish  you  would  confer  with 
Mr."  Ray,  who  is  vice  president  of  our  associaticju  and  chairman  of  our  executive  com- 
mittee," and  arrange  to  attend  this  hearing. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  265 

Senator  Gallixger.  Mr.  Slioomaker  is  })rosidcnt  of  the  Bright  wood 
Citizens'  Association  ? 

Mr.  Russell.  Yes:  he  is  president  of  tlie  association,  and  I  am  a 
member  of  the  executive  committee  and  chairman  of  the  legishitive 
committee. 

The  first  thing  Mr.  Shoemaker  speaks  of  here  is  this  half-and-half 
matter,  and  I  wish  to  correct  the  statement  of  ^Ir.  Lancaster  that 
our  association  is  opposed  to  the  half-and-half  ]->rinciple.  We  are 
decidedly  the  other  way,  and  haye  passed  resolutions  .thanking  the 
citizens'  committee,  and  so  on.  I  may  add  that  I  think  Mr.  Mac- 
.farland  made  to-da}"  an  unanswerable  argument  in  favor  of  some 
systematic  plan  of  proceeding. 

POLICE    STATION    AT    BRIGHTWOOD. 

This  letter  requests  first  an  appropriation  of  S5,000  for  a  police 
station  at  Brightwood.  I  shall  not  dwell  upon  that  point,  but 
merely  submit  it. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Have  you  not  a  police  station  at  Brightwood? 

Mr.  Russell.  There  has  never  been  a  police  station  built  at 
Brightwood.  We  have  asked  for  this  many  times,  and  it  has  not 
yet  been  provided. 

Senator  Smith  of  ^Maryland.  Have  you  been  before  the  commis- 
sioners in  regard  to  the  matter? 

Mr.  Russell.  Xo,  sir;  not  in  regard  to  that  mrtter. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  is  not  estimated  in  this  bill? 

Mr.  Rt^ssELL.  I  do  not  think  it  is;  no,  sir. 

IMPROVEMEXT    OF    MOXTAGUE    STREET. 

Then  there  is  another  item,  a  small  one,  of  SI, 500,  to  macadamize 
Montague  Street  for  a  distance  of  one  block.  Mr.  Shoemaker  says 
that  this  street  is  in  very  bad  condition  and  is  improved  very  nicely 
west  of  Fourteenth  Street.  A  number  of  new  houses  liave  been 
built  on  it  east  of  Fourteenth  Street,  and  prices  have  increased,  and 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  street  should  not  be  improved  between 
Fourteenth  Street  and  Colorado  Avenue. 

Senator  Curtis.  Just  a  block? 

Mr.  Russell.  Just  a  block:  yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Did  you  go  before  the  District  Com- 
missioners in  regard  to  that  >.     Have  you  made  an  estimate  of  that  \ 

Mr.  Russell.  They  have  never  considered  that,  I  think,  at  all. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Did  you  ever  present  it  to  them  '. 

Mr.  Russell.  It  has  never  been  presented  at  all  except  in  this  let- 
ter, I  think.     The  street  is  newly  built  up. 

GRADIXG    OF    SIXTEEXTH    STREET. 

Then  Mr.  Shoemaker's  letter  goes  on  to  say  that  we  advocate  a 
sum  of  .S26.900  for  grading  and  regulating  Sixteenth  Street  from  the 
present  terminus  or  point  to  which  it  has  been  regulated  and  graded 
north  to  Rock  Creek  Ford  Road. 

We  would  call  the  committee's  attention  to  the  admirable  im- 
provement of  Sixteenth  Street  as  far  north  as  it  has  been  graded  and 


266  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

regulated,  and  to  the  fact  that  it  is  a  great  national  thoroughfare 
bordering  Rock  Creek  Park  for  a  king  distance,  and  that  the  property 
owners  out  there  dedicated  all  the  land  necessary  for  Sixteenth 
Street  through  to  the  District  line  many  years  ago.  I  understand 
tiiat  is  probably  a  mistake  for  the  Military  Road.  There  is  need  of 
grading,  especially  from  about  Montague  Street  or  Longfellow  Street, 
to  name  a  street  that  is  more  familiar — to  Military  Road,  and  there 
has  been  an  estimate  made  of  S26,900  for  that  work.  We  have  been 
asking  for  th^t  for  years. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  By  whom  was  that  estimate  made? 

Mr.  Russell.  By  the  District  engineer,  I  think,  some  time  ago; 
some  years  ago. 

Senator  Gallinger.  We  put  an  item  of  that  kind  in  the  bill  two 
years  ago,  and  it  was  lost  in  conference. 

Mr.  Russell.  Yes,  sir.  It  has  been  asked  for  repeatedly,  and  we 
think  it  is  very  necessary.  We  think  that  getting  rid  of  that  great 
obstacle  of  the  ungraded  land  there,  and  going  down  to  Military  Road, 
would  open  up  the  street  farther  on,  and  would  make  a  nmch  larger 
increase  of  taxable  property. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  is  simply  an  extension  of  Sixteenth  Street  ? 

Mr.  Russell.  An  extension  of  Sixteenth  Street. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  We  had  that  under  consideration  last 
year. 

Senator  Cltrtis.  We  have  had  it  up  for  several  years. 

Mr.  Russell.  For  a  number  of  years;  yes,  sir. 

I  wish  to  add  that  there  was  a  sort  of  joint  agreement  15  or  16 
years  ago,  when  I  bought  some  property  in  Bright  wood  myself,  that 
the  street  would  be  speedily  improved  all  the  wav  out,  a  sort  of  gen- 
tlemen's agreement  between  the  commissioners  and  people  who 
dedicated  land  for  the  street,  and  we  think  that  it  is  high  tmie  that  the 
gentlemen's  agreement  should  be  carried  out. 

Senator  Gallinger.  There  is  a  development  beyond. 

Mr.  Russell.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  should  judge  more  than  a  mile  from  the 
present  improved  part  of  Sixteenth  Street  ? 

Mr.  Russell,  les. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Who  is  developing  that '. 

Mr.  Russell.  Mr.  Robert  E.  Heater,  of  Sixteenth  Street  Heights. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Over  at  SixtecMith  Street  Heights  \  He  is 
opening  the  streets  there,  too  ? 

Mr.  Russell.  Yes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Anfl  opening  an  extension  of  Sixteenth  Street 
at  that  point '. 

Mr.  Rl'ssell.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  He  is  representing  a  Richmond  syndicate. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Mr.  Russell.  You  can  not  get  through  Sixteenth  Street  at  Mon- 
tague Street.  I  think  it  is  a  very  necessary  improvement,  and  while 
it  recjuires  a  considerable  amount  of  money,  perhaps,  it  must  some 
time  be  done,  and  this  street  is  very  handsomely  built  up  just  below 
there. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  I  understand  there  are  improve- 
ments beyond,  which  this  street  if  opened  would  reach  I 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  VM1.  2o7 

Mr.  Russell.  Yes.  sir;  and  iinprovonioiits  right  up  to  tliis  point. 
There  was  a  house  sold  there  for  S32,000  reeently,  on  Sixteenth  Street. 
These  improvements  go  out  in  jumps.  They  do  not  follow  out  from 
the  old  improvements,  always,  they  jump  out,  and  Sixteer.th  Street 
is  improved  very  handsomely  way  out  near  the  reservoir  and  near 
Montague  Street. 

IMPROVEMENT  OF  NINTH  STREET. 

We  ask  that  8500  be  appropriated  to  macadamize  Ninth  Street 
from  Sheridan  Street  to  Tuckerman  Street.  That  is  a  small  amount, 
and  I  am  not  very  familiar  with  it. 

IMPROVEMENT    OF    MADISON    STREET. 

We  would  especially  invite  the  attention  of  the  committee  to  our 
request  for  S2,000  to  improve  Madison  Street  from  Colorado  Avenue 
to  Fourteenth  Street,  one  block.  A  bill  has  been  introduced  to 
appropriate  SI, 000.  We  should  be  fairly  well  satisfied  to  have 
SI, 000  appropriated.  Madison  Street  is  very  handsomely  improved, 
both  east  and  west  of  this  block,  and  this  block  is  just  a  mudhole, 
between  them.  This  is  a  matter  that  has  been  repeatedly  called  to 
the  attention  of  the  commissioners,  and  urged.  The  land  was  taken 
and  assessments  of  benefits  amounting  to  several  thousand  dollars 
were  levied  against  the  property,  and  yet  that  block  has  never  been 
opened  for  travel.  People  get  stuck  in  the  mud  out  there,  and  it  is 
in  a  dangerous  condition. 

ASSESSMENTS     OF     BENEFITS,      STREET      IMPROVEMENTS. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Have  those  assessments  of  benefits  been 
paid  ? 

Mr.  Russell.  I  presume  so,  sir.     I  do  not  know. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  is  one  of  the  things  that  I  have  thought 
was  an  injustice  in  this  District.  They  open  a  street,  on  paper,  they 
assess  benefits  against  abutting  property  holders,  and  make  them 
pa}'  those  benefits,  and  the  street  may  not  be  improved  for  10  years 
thereafter. 

Mr.  Russell.  That  is  right,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  assessments  of  benefits  have  been 
made  with  the  understanding  that  the  streets  should  be  put  there, 
and  they  are  not  put  there  ? 

Mr.  RVssell.  Yes,  sir;  and  the  assessm.ents  are  made  on  the  basis 
that  the  streets  are  improved  and  ready  for  use. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  On  the  basis  that  the  streets  are 
there  ? 

Mr.  Russell.  That  the  streets  are  there  and  ready  to  be  occupied, 
and  for  use,  when  they  are  not. 

In  that  connection,  this  may  not  be  a  matter  appropriate  f<»r  the 
committee,  I  do  not  know  that  it  is,  but  I  would  like  to  call  attention 
to  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Shoemaker  to  Mr.  George  H.  Tinkham,  a 
Member  of  Congress  from  Boston,  in  which  an  amemhnent  is  pro- 
posed to  the  existing  law.  It  seems  that  some  few  years  ago  Con- 
gress authorized  the  District  Commissioners  to  hiitiate  condemnation 


268  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

proceedings  without  any  special  legislation,  but  they  did  not  provide 
any  appropriation,  and  they  did  provide  that  benefits  must  l)e 
assessed  enough  to  cover  the  damage.  The  courts  have  held  that 
that  is  an  impossible  and  unjust  thing,  that  is,  that  the  jury  is  bound 
to  find  onl}^  the  benefits  that  it  does  find  hi  fact;  so  that  this  plan  of 
authorizing  the  commissioners  to  make  condemnations,  where 
necessary — and  many  of  them  are  necessary — is  nullified,  prac- 
tically, because  the  commissioners  have  to  hunt  around  and  find  out 
by  guessing  and  calculating  and  estimating  that  the  benefits  are 
going  to  equal  the  damage,  or  they  will  not  institute  any  proceedings. 
They  have  in  fact  instituted  no  proceedings.  This  letter  contains 
an  amendment  to  the  law;  the  present  law  is  largely  quoted  here, 
and  it  provides  that  the  assessments  for  benefits  shall  be  equal  to  the 
damages,  and  we  have  inserted  that  the  assessments  shall,  so  far  as 
the  jury  may  find  benefits  to  exist,  only. 

Senator  Curtis.  That  is  your  amendment  ? 

Mr.  Russell.  Yes,  sir;  it  is  underscored  in  red  ink  here. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Not  contemplated  improvements, 
but  as  they  now  exist  ? 

Mr.  Russell.  Well,  as  they  really  exist.  There  is  another  section 
covering  the  point  that  you  have  in  mind.     It  is  as  follows: 

Sec.  2.  That  in  the  absence  of  any  appropriation  for  the  opening  and  improving 
of  the  streets  the  jury  shall  consider  as  benefits  only  benefits  arising  from  the  taking 
of  the  land  and  making  it  legally  a  highway. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  assess  as  though  the  streets  were  actually 
ready  for  use,  when  they  are  not  and  may  never  be. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  contemplates  a  change  in  the  law,  and 
that  is  not  before  us. 

Mr.  Russell.  I  suppose  that  would  be  before  another  committee; 
but  as  long  as  you  mentioned  it  I  spoke  of  that. 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Senator  Gallinger  has  introduced  a  similar  bill  in 
the  Senate. 

Mr.  Russell.  Yes,  I  know;  but  that  does  not  provide  any  appro- 
priation to  pay  for  the  damages,  and  it  does  not  quite  come  up  to 
this  plan  of  ours  here  we  think. 

improvement    OF    LONGFELLOW    STREET. 

There  are  one  or  two  other  items.  I  mentioned  Madison  Street. 
We  ask  that  $5,000  be  appropriated  to  macadamize  Longfellow 
Street  from  Georgia  Avenue  to  Colorado  Avenue.  This  is  an  im- 
portant thoroughfare,  and  buildings  are  being  constructed  in  that 
vicinity.  Longfellow  Street  just  north  of  the  reservoir  and  near  Six- 
teenth Street  is  very  handsomely  improved. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  is  practically  built  up  now  ? 

Mr.  Rlssell.  It  is  practically  built  up. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  is  a  very  reasonable  request.  Did  not 
the  commissioners  insert  that  ? 

Mr.  Russell.  I  do  not  think  this  was  presented  to  the  commissioners. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  is  the  difficulty.  We  are  bound  down 
here,  not  absolutely,  but  as  a  rule,  by  the  estimates  submitted  by  the 
commissioners,  and  unfortunately  you  did  not  have  much  success, 
if  you  attem])ted  it,  with  them. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPKOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  269 

Mr.  Rl'ssell.  Wo  did  not  have  much  siicoess  with  what  we  did  ask. 
This  has  been  rendered  absolutely  necessary  because  of  some  con- 
struction since  our  estimates  went  to  the  commissioners.  There  have 
been  two  very  nice  buildings  which  have  gone  up  between  Georgia 
Avenue  and  Colorado  Avenue. 

Improvement  of  Quakenboss  Street. 

We  desire  SI, 000  to  improve  Quakenboss  Street  from  Georgia 
Avenue  east  to  Ninth  Street  and  Ninth  Street  from  Rittenhouse 
Street  to  Quakenboss  Street.  That  is  a  small  item,  and  I  am  not  very 
familiar  with  that,  so  that  I  shall  not  undertake  to  discuss  it. 

We  ask  the  sum  of  S15,000  to  improve  Thirteenth  Street  from 
Spring  Road  to  Longfellow  Street.  The  land  for  this  street  is  now^  in 
process  of  conch^nnation.  In  fact,  I  think  the  jury  have  assessed  the 
benefits  and  damages,  and  we  want  $15,000  to  improve  it.  That  will 
be  rather  inadccpiate,  but  we  had  better  have  that  than  nothing. 

I  think  that  is  all.     I  thank  the  committee. 

(At  1.40  o'clock  p.  m.  the  subcommittee  took  a  recess  until  2.15 
o'clock  p.  m.) 

(The  following  was  submitted  by  Mr.  Russell :) 

Brightwood  Citizens'  Association. 

recommendations  for  appropriations  for  public  improvements  in  the  bright 
wood  section  submitted  to  the  commissioners  of  the  district  of  columbia, 
to  be  included  in  their  annual  estimates  to  congress  for  expenses  op 
the  district  for  fiscal  year  1916. 

Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Gentlemen:  The  Brightwood  Citizens'  Association,  being  one  of  several  such 
organizations  existing  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  is  not  unmindful  of  local  needs 
and  necessities.  We  desire,  therefore,  to  secure  the  establishment  of  such  improve- 
ments as  are  necessary  witliin  the  territory  over  which  it  exercises  influence,  as  evi- 
denced by  the  following  suggestions  for  local  improvements,  which  we  respectfully 
offer  for  your  serious  consideration. 

Our  organization  is  interested  in  the  general  welfare  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  we  hope  to  be  able  to  assist  the  commissioners  generally  in  the  performance  of 
their  public  duties. 

It  is  only  too  evident  that  the  annual  recommendations  to  Congress  and,  still  more 
so,  that  the  annual  appropriations,  which  represent  a  great  reduction  of  the  commis- 
sioners' estimates,  are  wholly  inadequate  for  the  necessities  of  this  rapidly  growing 
community. 

The  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia  not  only  stand  in  need  of,  but  are  suffering 
for  the  exercise  of.  many  governmental  functions  which  other  communities  enjoy, 
and  they  can  not  be  provided  by  individual  effort. 

The  proper  proportionate  increase  in  general  taxation  is  not  by  any  means  fully 
secured  in  behalf  of  the  Government,  nor  is  it  augmented  by  such  changed  condi- 
tions because  of  the  improvement  of  real-estate  holdings  which  ought  to  occur.  The 
investment  of  capital  is  not  adequately  encouraged  for  the  improvement  of  real 
estate,  either  for  development  purposes  or  for  the  establishment  of  homes,  because 
of  the  absence  of  public  improvements. 

The  outhing  territory,  wliich  we  desire  to  call  the  "New  and  Greater  Washington," 
can  not  be  privately  improved  a.s  it  should  be  until  public  improvements,  such  as 
streets,  together  with  water,  sewer,  and  light,  are  provided  by  the  Government. 

The  members  of  tliis  organization  are  convinced  that  of  necessity  the  improvements 
herein  suggested  are  public  in  character,  and  that  there  absence  affects  and  retards, 
generally  speaking,  the  interests  of  the  community  rather  than  of  any  i)articular 
individual. 

Increased  taxation  and  construction  of  buildings,  wherever  public  improvements 
have  been  made,  show  conclusively  a  necessity  which  exists  for  a  continuation  of  such 
public  improvements.     Wherever  necessary  pubhc  improvements  have  been  made 


270  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  191". 

private  development  has  invariably  followed;  consequently  the  landowners  and  tax- 
paj-ers  have  been  benefited,  the  District  revenues  have  been  augmented,  and  Washing- 
ton has  become  more  beautiful.  This  is  illustrated  by  a  comparison  of  much  territory 
which  has  not  been  provided  with  streets,  water,  sewer,  and  light  with  that  which  has 
been  so  provided. 

We  ask  specifically  for  certain  improvements,  and  hope  to  have  them  included  in 
your  estimates  to  Congress.  We  believe  that  a  firm  and  united  effort  should  be  made 
on  the  part  of  our  people  to  sustain  your  recommendations  in  their  entirety,  rather  than 
a  special,  separate,  or  distinct  effort  to  secure  any  particular  appropriation.  We  be- 
lieve that  all  i)ublic  and  private  improvements,  generally  speaking,  although  they  may 
appear  to  be  local,  radiate  in  their  effect  and  benefit  tlie "entire  District. 

Uur  particular  requests  are  as  follows: 


First.  Recently  a  sewer  was  constructed  up  the  Military  Road  as  far  as  Tliirteenth 
Street.  We  ask  that  this  se^ner  be  extended  north  along  Tliirteenth  Street,  or  the 
old  Piney  Branch  Road,  to  the  liigh  ground  at  Fort  Stevens,  so  that  a  number  of  houses 
now  occupied  can  be  accommodated.  Much  of  this  territory  is  lower  than  the  alti- 
tude of  Georgia  Avenue,  and  consequently  can  not  be  drained  through  the  Georgia 
Avenue  sewer,  and  people  who  live  in  that  vicinity  can  not  observe  sanitary  laws 
and  regulations. 

Second.  We  ask  that  a  sewer  be  laid  on  Quackenbos  Street,  commencing  at  the 
intersection  of  Georgia  Avenue  and  Quackenbos  Street  NW.  and  extending  eastward 
to  the  most  practical  outlet.  At  present  there  is  a  marsh,  very  injurious  to  health, 
and  after  every  rain  water  remains  for  a  long  time  on  the  low  ground,  generating 
mosquitos  and  creating  a  nuisance.  Houses  have  been  built  in  tliis  vicinity,  and 
people  are  residing  there  under  disadvantageous  conditions. 


First.  We  direct  your  attention  to  Sixteenth  Street  and  to  the  great  advantage 
accruing  to  the  general  public,  as  hereinbefore  stated,  by  the  partial  extension  of  this 
important  thoroughfare,  and  we  ask  that  it  be  opened  for  travel  at  least  as  far  as  the 
Military  Road  or  the  Rock  Creek  Ford  Road,  so  that  the  present  admirable  develop- 
ment along  this  avenue  may  continue.  We  would  remind  you  of  the  fact  that  some 
years  ago  the  Brightwood  Citizens'  Association  was  instrumental  in  securing  the 
donation  of  almost  all  the  land  necessary  for  Sixteenth  Street  from  Piney  Branch 
north  to  the  District  Line,  and  that  Mr.  Thomas  Blagden  and  other  owners  patriotic- 
ally participated  in  tliis  public-spirited  undertaking  by  giA-ing  up  their  property  free 
of  cost  to  the  Government,  not  only  with  the  hope,  but  with  an  understanding  with 
the  Commissioners  of  the  District'  then  in  office,  that  Sixteenth  Street  would  be 
graded  and  regulated  as  far  north  as  the  District  Line.  This  they  did  more  than  13 
years  ago,  andthe  general  public  is  still  suffering  for  some  highway  other  than  Georgia 
Avenue,  which  has  remained  to  this  late  day  the  only  thoroughfare  opened  to  the 
north  boundarv  of  the  District  between  North  Capitol  Street  on  the  east  and  Rock 
Creek  Park  on'the  west.  There  is  certainly  a  very  strong  equity  existing  in  favor  of 
those  who  gave  up  thousands  of  dollars'  worfh  of  their  valuable  property  to  the  Govern- 
ment for  this  great  national  thoroughfare  and  have  since  been  paying  increased  taxes. 
We  call  this  a  national  thoroughfare  because  of  its  great  width,  its  direction  extending 
as  it  does  north  from  the  White  House  through  the  District  into  Maryland .  For  the 
improvement  of  tliis  street,  at  least  as  far  north  as  the  Military  Road,  we  repeat  our 
request  for  the  sum  of  §26,900. 

Second.  We  request  that  Thirteenth  Street  be  opened,  graded,  and  regulated  for 
travel  from  Spring  Road  to  Longfellow  Street,  and  that  the  land  should  be  acquired 
for  such  purpose  where  necessary.  A  portion  of  this  street  has  been  donated  and  is 
now  open  for  travel,  but  it  is  not  a  thoroughfare,  and  consequently  does  not  relieve 
the  dangerous  condition  of  Fourteenth  Street  and  (Georgia  Avenue,  both  of  which  are 
crowded  with  teams,  automobiles,  electric  cars,  and  other  vehicles.  If  Thirteenth 
Street  were  open  it  would  not  only  relieve  Fourteenth  Street  and  Georgia  Avenue, 
but  it  would  contribute  greatly  to  the  comfort  of  the  traveling  public,  and  also  develop 
territory  which  would  soon  be  built  upon  and  other *vise  improve.  For  this  we  ask 
the  sum  of  si. 5, 000. 

Third.  In  conjunction  with  the  Piney  Branch  Citizens'  Association,  we  heartily 
recommend  that  the  following  improvements  be  made: 

We  desire  that  Farragut  Street  from  Thirteenth  Street  to  Georgia  Avenue,_  and 
Arkansas  Avenue  from  Emerson  Street  to  Farragut  Street,  be  graded  and  macadamized. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  271 

These  streets  are  in  Saul's  subdivision  ami  adjacent  thereto,  where  thousands  of  dollars 
have  been  expentled  liy  individuals  to  grade,  regulate,  and  macadamize  many  of  the 
streets  now  used  by  the  general  pul)lic. 

We  ask  that  Quackenl)os  Street  from  C.eorgia  Avenue  to  the  east  side  of  Ninth 
Street  Northwest  be  graded,  and  Ninth  Street  from  Rittenhouse  to  the  south  side  of 
Quackenbos  Street  be  also  graded .  Homes  that  have  been  established  recently  in  this 
vicinity  justify  these  public  improvements.     F'or  this  we  suggest  §1 ,000. 

tourlh.  Brightwood  Avenue,  now.  unforuinately  lor  our  people,  changed  to  (leorgia 
AA'enue.  over  our  protests,  thus  abolishing  ihe  historic  name  which  it  had  retained  for 
more  than  a  hundred  years,  remains,  as  it  has  always  been,  the  only  ihoroughfare 
leading  directly  from  the  boundary  of  the  ciiy  to  the  boundary  ot  the  District.  It  is 
true  that,  after  a  great  effort  on  the  part  of  the  members  ol  oiu-  association,  assisted 
by  others,  the  partial  extension  of  Fourteenth  and  Sixteenth  Streets  was  sec  ured.  thus 
relieving  the  great  concentration  of  travel  upon  the  lower  portion  of  Georgia  Avenue. 
The  advantage  accruing  not  only  to  local  taxpayers  and  the  general  public,  but  to  the 
city  of  Washington,  generally  speaking,  as  indie  ated  by  the  extensive  use  of  these 
thoroughfares  and  a  large  nuinl)er  of  homes  which  have  been  established  upon  them 
as  far  as  they  have  been  opened,  and  thus  affording  an  opportunity  which  did  not  before 
exist  for  the  development  of  territory  which  has  been  for  years  taxed  at  a  very  high  rate, 
and  affording  thereby  a  great  ini'reased  revenue  to  the  Government ,  shows  conclusively 
that  our  oft -repeated  request  for  the  further  improvement  and  opening  up  of  Four- 
teenth and  Sixteenth  Streets  should  be  heeded. 

1-ifth.  We  beg  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  Brightwood  Avenue,  now 
Georgia  Avenue,  as  old  as' it  is.  has  never  been  pro^dded  with  footways  or  pavements 
for  pedestrians.  Hundreds  of  men.  women,  and  children  are  now  forced  to  use  the 
middle  of  the  road  when  going  to  and  from  church,  school,  or  traveling  for  business,  at 
the  risk  of  their  lives,  because  of  the  danger  arising  from  the  electric  street  cars,  auto- 
mobiles, and  from  teams  constantly  going  to  and  fro.  In  the  interest  of  humanity, 
and  to  relieve  tliis  great  danger,  macadamized  footways  should  be  provided  on  each 
side  of  Georgia  Avenue  to  the  District  line. 

Sixth.  The  improvement  of  Colorado  Avenue  extends  only  to  the  old  Piney  Branch 
Road;  consequently  all  the  travel  out  Sixteenth  and  Fourteenth  Streets  and  along 
this  avenue  is  concentrated  at  this  point  from  an  avenue  of  the  width  of  at  least  90 
feet  into  a  dangerously  narrow,  old,  abandoned  county  road,  being  a  portion  of  the 
Piney  Branch  Road.  Some  serious  accident  will  surely  happen  at  this  point  unless 
Colorado  Avenue  is  extended  to  the  Military  Road,  thus  relieving  this  congestion. 
Consequently  we  ask  that  the  land  necessary  for  Colorado  Avenue  for  this  very  short 
distance,  or  at  least  as  far  as  the  intersection  thereof  with  Thirteenth  Street  be  opened 
for  travel. 

In  this  connection  we  recommend  that  a  special  act  be  passed  by  which  the  expense 
incurred  shall  be  equally  borne  by  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  property  owners. 

Seventh.  We  ask  that  Buchanan  Street  from  Georgia  Avenue  to  Thirteenth  Street 
be  regulated  and  macadamized. 

Eighth.  We  indorse  the  bill  in  the  Sixty-third  Congress,  S.  5038,  which  provides 
that  "no  condemnation  proceedings  shall  be  instituted  or  assessments  levied  in  pur- 
suance thereof  for  land  necessary  for  national  highways  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
unless  Congress  has  made  provision  for  the  actual  opening  and  grading  of  the  street  at 
the  time  of  the  acquisition  of  land  and  assessment  of  such  benefits.  It  is  a  hardship 
upon  the  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia  to  impose  upon  them  without  contribution 
from  Congress,  the  exclusive  cost  of  acquiring  land  necessary  for  national  highways 
corresponding  with  the  national  street  extension  plan,  and  we  believe  it  to  be  a 
greater  hardship,  and  one  that  ought  not  to  be  imposed  to  acquire  this  land  by  con- 
demnation proceedings  and  assess  the  cost  on  the  property  owners  with  interest 
yeirs  in  advance  of  the  opening  of  such  public  highways.  We  favor  the  passage  of 
this  bill  in  the  Sixty-fourth  Congress. 

Ninth.  It  is  recommended  that  the  proceedings  now  in  court  for  the  purpose  of 
widening  Georgia  Avenue  be  expedited. 

TenthT  We  recommend  that  Longfellow  Street  be  macadamized  from  Georgia 
Aventie  to  Colorado  Avenue,  and  that  an  appropriation  of  §5,000  be  asked  for  the 
same. 

Eleventh.  We  ask  that  Madison  Street  from  Colorado  Avenue  west  to  Fourteenth 
street  be  macadamized,  and  that  §2,000  be  asked  for  the  same. 

Twelfth.  We  ask  §500  for  macadamizing  Ninth  Street  from  Sheridan  Street  to 
Tuckerman  Street. 

Thirteenth.  We  request  that  sidewalks  be  laid  on  the  west  side  of  Colorado  A\enue 
from  Sixreenth  Street  to  Fourteenth  and  Kennedy  Streets. 

Fourteenth.  In  conjunction  with  the  Woodburn  Citizens'  Association  and  Petworth 
Citizens'  Association,  we  heartily  concur  in  the  recommendation  of  the  improvement 


272  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1017. 

of  Xew  Hampshire  Avenue  from  Grant  Circle  to  the  District  line.  This  avenue  is  a 
very  important  thoroughfare  and  land  has  been  condemned  and  heavy  assessments 
have  been  made  upon  property  owners,  which  they  object  to  paying  until  the  street 
has  been  opened  and  improved. 

LIGHTIXG. 

We  ask  that  Beach  Driveway  shill  be  provided  with  electric  Lights  from  Pierce's 
mill  to  the  military  road.  We  regard  this  as  being  very  necessary  in  behalf  of  those 
who  have  to  drive  "on  this  thoroughfare  of  the  park  in  the  evening. 

ROCK   CREEK   PARK. 

Appreciating,  as  we  do.  the  many  natural  advantages  of  Rock  Creek  Park,  we 
respectfully  suggest  that  many  of  the  roads  in  the  park  be  widened.  At  the  present 
time  these" roads  are  dangerously  narrow,  while  overhanging  bushes  and  trashy  trees 
obstruct  the  view  of  those  who  frequent  them.  Surely  there  is  a  sufficient  number  of 
trees  and  bushes  in  the  park  without  allowing  them  to  hang  over  the  roads,  obstruct  the 
view,  and  greatly  •endanger  the  lives  of  our  people. 

We  are  gratified  to  observe  that  our  former  request  for  the  improvement  of  the 
springs  of  the  park  has  been  granted,  and  we  desire  to  state  that  it  would  be  a  great 
advantage  to  the  general  public  to  make  all  of  them  of  as  much  practical  utility  as 
possible,  and  that  a  larger  number  of  stone  tablets  should  be  provided  near  these  springs 
and  in  other  suitable  places  where  the  people  can  congregate  and  enjoy  the  advantages 
afforded  by  nature,  ^\'e  would  further  suggest  that  receptacles  for  paper  and  other 
trash  should  be  provided  in  these  places  in  order  to  keep  the  park  as  clean  as  possible. 

We  renew  our  reqtiest  that  some  provision  should  be  made  for  an  assembly  of  the 
Mai-ine  Band  at  some  suitable  place  in  the  park,  either  at  the  old  Joshua  Pierce  resi- 
dence. Pierce"s  Mill,  or  Crystal  Springs,  which  are  located  near  the  Reservoir  at 
Bright  wood.  We  believe  that  thousands  of  our  people  would  go  out  to  enjoy  the  park 
and  listen  to  the  charm  of  the  music  under  the  great  trees  and  in  the  open  air.  This 
is  also  an  advantage  provided  by  the  Government  for  people  of  other  communities  in 
the  parks  of  the  various  cities  of  the  country-. 

We  recommend  that  the  present  management  of  Rock  Creek  Park  be  transferred  from 
the  present  commission  as  now  organized  to  the  Engineer  in  charge  of  Public  Buildings 
and  Grounds,  so  that  it  can  be  controlled  by  him  as  are  other  parks  and  reserAations 
f.f  the  District  of  Columbia. 

EXTEXSIOX    OF   CAR    LINE. 

We  strongly  favor  the  extension  of  the  Foiu-teenth  Street  car  line  to  the  military 
road,  and  the"nce  into  Rock  Creek  Park,  tor  the  benefit  of  the  public,  in  order  that  they 
may  seciu-e  an  entrance  to  the  park,  which  was  intended  for  recreation  and  amusement. 
We" think  it  is  very  important  that  a  street-car  line  should  penetrate  Rock  Creek  Park 
well  into  its  interior  from  some  point  on  Fourteenth  Street,  so  that  the  public  can  reach 
and  enjov  the  many  objects  of  natural  beauty  and  derive  that  benefit  from  the  park 
which  was  intended  at  the  time  of  its  acquisition,  more  than  20  years  ago.  Quoting 
from  the  act,  we  find  that  it  was  declared  by  Congress  that  it  should  be  a  pleasure 
ground  lor  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  We  pray,  now,  at  this  late 
dav,  that  suitable  facilities  shall  be  provided  to  enable  the  general  pubUc,  particularly 
people  of  moderate  means,  to  get  out  there,  breathe  the  pure  air  of  heaven,  and  view 
the  natural  beaut\'  of  this  vast  tract  of  land.  Thus  far  only  those  who  are  well  pro- 
vided with  bobtailed  horses  and  automobiles  can  afford  to  enjoy  the  park,  except  by 
walking  a  lonsr  distance  on  foot. 

The  parks  of  other  cities  are  tin-own  open  to  the  pubhc.  They  are  pro^•lded  wath 
railwavs  adequate  and  sufficient  to  reach  them,  and  the  general  pubhc  of  all  the  cities 
throughout  the  country  enjoy  the  pubhc  parks,  and  great  benefit  has  been  derived. 

STATION    HOUSE. 

We  have  repeatedlv  asked  for  a  suitable  station  house  for  Brightwood.  Station 
houses  ha\e  been  provided  for  Tenleytown  and  for  other  sections  of  the  District,  but 
Brightwood  continues  to  be  neglected.  If  one  should  happen  to  be  arrested  at  Bnght- 
wood,  the  prisoner  would  have  to  remain  exposed  in  the  roadway  until  communica- 
tion can  be  reached  with  the  station  house  on  Park  Road,  almost  2  miles  away. 


DISTKICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPliOPKIATlO:^    BILL,  11)17.  273 

BOTANICAL   GARDENS. 

We  urge  the  c  oinmis!?iouers  in  their  report  to  Congress  to  recommend  that  the 
Botanical  Gardens  be  removed  from  their  present  location  to  Hock  (reek  Park,  where 
they  jMoperiy  belong,  in  the  interests  of  the  people  of  the  District  as  well  as  of  the 
people  ol  the  I'nitcti  Siate.-J. 

We  ask  that  a  recommendation  made  some  years  ago  and  repeated  to  Congress  by 
the  commissioners  be  again  made  to  Congress,  namely,  for  a  law  clothing  the  com- 
missioners with  authority  to  designate,  from  time  to" time,  what  streets  or  parts  of 
streets  shall  be  for  residences  and  what  for  business  houses.  \\e  need  not  call  atten- 
tion to  the  deplorable  effects  of  injecting  business  places  into  the  handsomest  residence 
neighborhoods.  And  we  are  persuaded  that,  on  the  whole,  both  business  men  and 
home  ownei"s  will  be  benefited  by  concentrating  shops  in  certain  sections.  Wo  are 
gratified  to  learn  that  the  present  commissioners  are  in  favor  of  the  principle  involved. 

We  ask  that,  in  any  plan  for  taxing  the  landowners  of  this  District,  the  condition 
of  affaii-s  which  has  grown  up  naturally  and  legitimately  under  the  existing  system 
be  kept  in  mind,  namely,  that  the  tax  on  the  value  of  the  laud  is  assessed  against  the 
title  holder,  although  he  often  owns  but  a  small  equity.  A  sudden  change  in  the 
rate  of  taxation,  based  merely  upon  the  land,  where  so  many  salaried  people  are 
carrying  homes  or  investments  to  the  limit  of  their  capacity  to  pay  interest  on  pur- 
chase-money notes,  might  result  in  severe  hardship. 

We  ask  that,  in  the  matter  of  street-improvement  expenses,  all  streets  whose  openings 
tip  is  authorized  bv  the  public  authorities  be  paid  for,  improved,  and  maintained  with 
public  money,  as  being  for  the  public  benefit  and  use.  If  private  landowners  desire 
to  open  streets  which  the  public  authorities  do  not  consider  needed  by  the  public 
a  different  principle  can  be  applied  and  private  funds  left  to  pay  for  private  benefits 
as  self-interest  may  dictate. 

We  insist  that,  as  a  rule,  a  street  is  us?>d  by  persons  who  live  in  all  parts  of  the  city 
and  out  of  the  city,  and  that  the  exceptional  cases  ought  not  to  control  in  which 
priA^ate  landowners  are  the  beneficiaries. 

We  ask  that  the  half-and-half  principle  of  public  expenditures  in  the  District  be 
continued  and  deprecate  a  continual  threat  of  changing  a  system  which  has  produced 
good  practical  results,  as  nobody  seems  to  deny. 

We  respectfully  ask  that  the  commissioners  carry  out  their  published  intention  to 
ptit  a  sidewalk  along  Sixteenth  Street  to  reach  as  far  out  as  Kennedy  Street  as  soon 
as  the  new  fiscnl  year  should  b^gin.  a?  it  now  has  begun.  While  we  do  not  wish  to 
hurry  the  building  up  of  that  street  in  such  a  way  as  to  produce  unsatisfactory  results, 
on  the  other  hand,  we  think  that  a  A\Tong  impression  concerning  what  is.  perhaps,  the 
handsomopt  and  ^ridc-t  avenup  in  th-^  city  is  created  by  leaving  it  uninhabitable  for 
want  of  sidewalks,  saAdng  nothing  of  the  constant  danger  to  those  who  venture  to  walk 
upon  it.  Moreover,  it  is,  or  naturally  would  be.  the  chief  road  to  the  National  Park, 
and  such  a  sidev%-alk  would  be  of  the  greatest  conA-enience  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  who  desire  to  make  use  of  that  park.     *    *    * 

In  conclusion,  I  beg  to  invite  your  attention  to  these  recommendations  for  the 
following  reasons: 

1 .  Because  of  the  growth  and  development  of  Washington  in  the  direction  of 
Brightwood  and  the  enormous  increase  of  taxation. 

2.  Because  of  the  very  large  amount  of  money  which  has  been  expended  by  individ- 
uals in  making  public  improvements  through  various  subdivisions,  such  as  macadam- 
izing streets,  laying  sidewalks,  water  mains,  and  lateral  sewers,  which  are  to  a  very 
great  extent  for  the  benefit  of  the  general  public,  yet  paid  for  exclusively  by  the 
individual  owner. 

.3.  Because  of  the  value  and  quantity  of  land  contained  in  .streets  and  avenues 
known  as  public  highways  in  accordance  vrith  a  national  street-extension  plan,  laid 
down  by  Congress,  and  to  which  property  owners  are  compelled  to  conform,  not  for 
their  own  benefit  alone,  nor  their  owji  interest,  but  because  A\'ashington  is  the  Capital 
City  of  the  Nation,  and  everything  is  sup])osed,  and  indeed  required  by  Congress,  to 
be  upon  a  large  and  national'scale  of  imj)()rtance.  The  contention  maybe  made  that 
those  who  subdi\-ide  land  .should  provide  streets.  It  may  ])e  well  contended  that 
these  people  should  not  be  required  to  pro\-ide  great  national  streets  wholly  at  private 
expense  without  ])articipation  as  to  the  cost  thereof  from  the  Federal  Treasury. 

As  so  much  has  been  done  by  private  enterprise  toward  the  establishment  of  a  new 
and  greater  Washington,  we  feel  justified  in  asking  your  liberal  consideration  of  the 
propositions  herein  suggested,  which  do  not  by  any  means  gratify  the  needs  quite 
apparent  at  the  present  time  in  behalf  of  our  section  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Respectfidly, 

Louis  P.  Shoe.maker, 

President. 

45737— IG 18 


274  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Executive  committee:  Charles  W.  Ray,  chairman,  George  Francis  Williams,  John 
A.  Saul,  William  Ramsay,  James  Holmes,  William  W.  Mathewson,  Wilton  J.  Lambert, 
Jacob  Xander,  Y>y.  Le^vis  J.  Battle,  Judge  Charles  W.  Russell,  Thomas  Blagden,  Jesse 
Ergood,  John  C.  Proctor,  Emile  Berliner,  Daniel  O'C.  Callaghan,  C.  C.  Lancaster,  A.  W. 
Foster,  Albert  S.  Gateley,  Lieut.  Geo.  B.  Maher. 

AFTERNOON    SESSION, 

Tlie  subcommittee  reconvened,  pursuant  to  tlie  taking  of  the  recess. 
STATEMENT  OF  MR.  WILLUM  McK.  CLAYTON. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Wiiat  are  you  representing,  Mr. 
Clayton? 

Mr.  Clayton.  I  represent  the  Federation  of  Citizens'  Associations. 
That  is  the  central  bod}^  the  delegate  body,  to  which  the  citizens' 
associations  send  delegates,  and  they  speak  then  through  the  central 
body. 

INCREASE    OF    PAY    FOR    STREET    CLEANERS. 

There  are  two  matters  coining  from  the  federation  that  I  wish  to 
speak  in  regard  to.  The  first  is  the  simpler  proposition,  and  I  im- 
agine it  is  almost  like  water  running  down  hill,  now,  in  view  of  the 
action  of  the  House  in  incorporating  the  item  in  the  bill.  It  comes 
to  you  as  an  increase  of  $20,000  for  the  pay  of  the  ''white  wings" 
of  the  city  of  Washington,  the  street  cleaners  of  the  city  of  Wash- 
ington. We  expect,  of  course,  to  ask  this  committee  to  adopt  that 
item  in  their  bill.  I  presume  that  as  a  matter  of  course  will  be  done. 
That  comes  from  the  Federation  of  Citizens'  Associations. 

ASSESSMENT    FOR    STREET    PAVING. 

The  second,  probably  a  more  important  matter,  is  a  matter  in  regard 
to  which  we  feel  very  acutely,  and  that  is  the  Borland  amendment. 
Last  year,  as  you  know,  the  House  bill,  and  afterwards  it  was  adopted 
by  the  Senate,  carried  an  amendment  taxing  the  paving  of  streets  in 
the  District  of  Columbia  against  the  abutting  property. 

Senator  Gallinger.  One-half? 

Mr.  Clayton.  One-half,  yes;  and  it  excluded,  not  by  direct  refer- 
ence, but  by  inference,  unfixed  pavement — that  is,  macadam  and 
other  temporary  pavements.  That  is  as  far  as  that  amendment 
went.  We  took  the  matter  before  the  commissioners,  and  we  got  a 
ruling  from  their  law  officer  that  that  did  not  apply  to  the  macadam 
pavements.  They  were  called  unfixed  pavements.  That  let  us  by 
that  year.  Now  they  have  carried  that  further,  and  have  included 
unfixed  pavements  this  time  in  that  amendment.  Now,  without 
considering  whether  30  or  40  years  ago  that  would  have  been  a  good 
thing,  to  tax  all  street  paving  against  the  abutting  property,  ^nd  all 
repairs  for  street  paving,  we  are  confronted  with  the  condition  that 
for  40  years  we  liave  been  having  those  things  jiaid  for  out  of  a  com- 
mon fund  for  all  i)aving  in  the  District. 

We  are  confronted  with  this  situation,  that  for  20  years  we  have 
been  paying  from  our  taxes  to  pave  streets.  We  have  been  living  on 
uni)aved  and  muddy  streets,  begging  Congress  to  help  us,  and  Con- 
gress has  done  what  it  could,  but  nothing  like  what  we  would  have 


niSTKTCT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  275 

liked  to  have  done.  Now  we  come  into  the  situation,  having  paid  for 
20  years  to  pave  city  streets.  1  can  show  you  streets  that  in  the  last 
20  years  have  been  repaved  two  or  three  times  at  the  expense  of  the 
general  public.  iXow  we  are  called  upon  to  face  this  contingency, 
that  we  must  pay  for  paving  the  streets  in  front  of  our  property  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  l>istrict  of  Columl)ia.  We  believe  that  to  be  an  unfair 
system.  It  is  an  unusual  thing  to  face,  because  we  can  see  no  reason 
why  the  old  system  should  not  continue  in  force.  It  acted  well. 
Then  we  have  to  face  the  further  fact  that  even  in  tlie  suburban  dis- 
tricts we  have  to  pay  for  water  and  sewer,  an  overprice,  we  claim.  We 
have  to  pay  for  all  these  other  things,  and  one-hah  of  the  street  pav- 
ing, and  we  are  up  against  a  large  assessment,  and  now  to  assess  us 
for  street  paving  with  no  necessity  existing  in  these  locations  is  very 
hard.  We  covered  money  into  the  Treasury  last  year,  and  why  now 
make  us,  after  20  years,  jjay  for  this  paving.  We  feel  very  keenly  on 
that,  and  we  come  here  to-day  representing  the  25  associations  in  this 
District,  with  the  unanimous  request  that  you  do  not  accede  to  the 
demand  of  the  House  on  this  particular  item,  on  the  Borland  amend- 
ment, but  let  us  go  back  to  the  old  system. 

We  ask  you  further,  if  you  can  not  meet  us  on  that,  then  at  least 
do  not  crowd  upon  the  suburban  sections.  Let  us  by,  and  confine 
it  to  the  purposes  that  they  had  in  the  last  bill,  for  fixed  pavements — - 
that  is,  asphalt  pavements — and  do  not  have  it  apply  to  macadam 
pavements,  and  do  not  have  a  class  of  unfixed  pavements  in  this. 
Under  the  present  system  we  have  something  to  say  about  whether 
water  and  sewer  shall  be  led  to  our  property,  and  whether  we  shall 
be  taxed  for  that;  and  the  same  way  about  improving  sidewalks. 
Under  this  amendment  there  is  no  question  of  whether  we  want 
them  or  need  them  or  not.  In  that  section  a  gentleman  has  built 
a  house  at  the  extreme  end  of  a  street,  two  squares  of  which  have 
been  paved.  That  is  the  only  house  built  there  in  10  years,  and 
probably  another  10  years  will  go  by  before  another  is  built.  He  had 
peculiar  ideas.  He  wanted  to  get  off  by  himself.  Two  sc^uares  of 
that  street  is  paved.  The  assessment  against  him  will  be  a  very  small 
thing,  but  how  about  the  other  two  squares  ?  That  is  left  to  the 
ipse  dixit  of  the  commissioners.  The  old  arrangement  worked  well; 
and  we  had  a  surplus  here  along  that  line;  and  let  it  go  back,  and  be 
fair  to  these  suburban  owners;  and  if  you  can  not  do  that,  then  let 
it  stand  on  what  the  House  gave  us  last  year,  and  let  it  apply  only 
to  the  fixed  pavements — that  is,  asphalt  pavements — and  let  these 
suburban  districts  develop  along  the  lines  on  which  they  should 
develop,  with  their  unfixed  pavements  first,  and  afterwards  have  the 
fixed  pavements.  You  understand  the  unfixed  pavement  is  only 
temporary.  Then  along  several  years  afterwards  there  comes  the 
fixed  type,  and  you  have  to  pay  for  it  again.  It  is  left  to  the  com- 
missioners to  sa}^,  "You  have  got  to  have  it."  I  leave  that  with  you 
with  the  very  prayerful  suggestion  that  you  attend  to  it  in  that  way. 
This  is  something  that  will  run  into  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars. 


POLICE    STATION,  BRIGHT  WOOD. 


A  police  station  was  referred  to  at  Brightwood.  Senator  Gallin- 
er  asked  whether  or  not  we  did  have  a  police  station  there.  We 
id  have  one  20  years  ago,  a  substation,  and  it  vanished  from  the  face 


276  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

of  the  earth,  and  since  that  tmie  we  have  had  only  a  patrol  wagon 
to  take  into  the  city  any  people  creating  a  disturbance  there.  We 
need  that  very  much.  1  think  we  have  almost  ground  enough  next 
to  the  'fire  station  at  Briglitwood  to  give  you  a  site.  It  will  not  take 
a  large  amount  of  money. 

The  suggestion  was  made  by  one  of  the  previous  speakers  that  the 
increase  in  the  salaries  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  was  unjus- 
tified. I  do  not  know  what  you  think  of  it,  but  I  only  want  to  answer 
the  gentleman  to  this  extent,  that  public  sentiment  in  the  District 
of  Columbia  does  justify  that  increased  amount,  taking  it  outside 
of  any  personal  equation,  as  to  who  fills  the  positions  now,  because 
when  those  positions  were  created  30  years  ago  the  salary  was  fixed 
upon  the  assumption  that  as  Senators  and  Representatives  at  that 
time  were  receiving  $5,000  a  year,  the  salaries  of  the  commissioners 
should  be  $5,000,  equal  to  them.  Since  that  time  lots  of  things  have 
happened.  The  city  has  doubled  in  its  size,  and  the  duties  of  the 
commissioners  have  increased.  It  is  not  because  we  care  anything 
about  the  occupants  of  the  offices,  but  for  the  dignity  of  the  office 
we  want  the  commissioners  to  have  the  same  salaries  as  Representa- 
tives and  Senators  in  Congress. 

IMPROVEMENT    OF    ILLINOIS    AVENUE. 

I  am  going  to  ask  the  advice  of  the  chairman  and  members  of  the 
committee  in  regard  to  an  improvement  I  wish  to  ask,  of  Illinois 
Avenue.  That  matter  was  not  estimated  for  by  by  the  commission- 
ers in  these  estimates,  and  as  it  is  a  rather  large  item,  I  do  not  know 
whether  you  care  to  consider  it  at  aU.     I  understand  the  rule. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Items  that  are  not  estimated  for  we 
can  not  consider.  It  seems  to  me  that  you  gentlemen  who  want  these 
improvements  should  put  yourselves  to  the  trouble  to  go  and  lay 
your  case  before  the  commissioners,  and  let  them  consider  it.  It  is 
there  it  should  be  considered  in  the  first  place,  and  in  this  matter  you 
have  not  been  before  the  commissioners  at  all,  as  I  understand  it. 

Mr.  Clayton.  Not  on  this  item,  at  all. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  If  we  were  to  undertake  to  put  in  every 
item  that  was  asked  for  after  the  bill  had  been  sent  to  us  from  the 
other  side,  there  would  be  no  end  to  it.  We  do  not  have  the  time  to 
consider  the  matters,  and  some  of  us  do  not  know  the  necessity  of 
them.  Those  things  are,  I  suppose,  to  be  looked  after  by  the  com- 
missioners first. 

Mr.  Clayton.  I  quite  appreciate  the  answer.  It  is  in  the  interest 
of  the  economy  of  time. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  much  is  it  you  want  there? 

Mr.  Clayton.  About  $22,000. 

Senator  Smith  of  Mar^dand.  Undoubtedly;  I  do  not  think  you 
would  stand  any  show  at  all. 

Mr.  Clayton.  I  am  satisfied  to  take  the  answer. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  it  is  not 
worthy. 

Mr.  Clayton.  I  quite  understand  that. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  try  to  keep  acquainted  with  the  various 
streets  and  avenues  of  Washington,  but  can  you  tell  me  where 
Illinois  Avenue  is  ? 


DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  277 

Mr.  Claytox.  It  is  out  by  Soidiers'  Home  gate,  to  connect  with 
Georgia  Avenue  just  at  Longfellow  Street. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  know  where  Longfellow  Street  is. 

Mr.  Claytox.  Our  desire  is  to  have  it  im}3roved  so  that  it  will  be 
open  for  travel.  That  is  a  growing  section  and  we  want  to  meet 
First  Street  at  the  other  side  and  go  down  through  this  section;  in 
other  words,  to  open  the  northeast  up  with  the  northwest  suburban 
section. 

Senator  Gallinger.  For  nearly  a  year  I  have  been  looking  for  an 
avenue  named  for  my  home  town,  but  I  have  not  found  it  yet. 

]VIi\  Claytox.  I  think  I  know  that  avenue.  It  is  not  a  credit  to 
any  State.     Neither  is  this  avenue  a  credit  to  its  State. 

Senator  vSmith  of  Maryland.  I  do  not  want  you  to  understand, 
Mr.  Clayton,  that  I  would  say  that  this  is  not  a  w^orthy  project. 

]Mi'.  Claytox.  Oh,  no. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  But  it  would  be  well  for  you  to  place 
your  wants  before  the  commissioners  before  they  are  brought  here. 

Mr.  Claytox.  LTndoubtodly. 

Senator  Gallixger.  What  you  want  to  do  is  to  toll  the  commis- 
sioners that  3'ou  eloquently  advocated  the  increase  in  their  salaries, 
and  that  they  ought  to  recommend  it. 

Mr.  Claytox.  I  only  made  that  suggestion  along  that  line  because 
the  other  gentleman  had  made  the  suggestion  that  there  was  no  real 
public  sentiment  or  demand  for  those  increases. 

CALVERT    STREET    AXD    KLIXGLE    FORD    BRIDGES. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  ARTHUK  E.  DO  WELL. 

Mr.  DowELL.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  represent  the  Connecticut  Avenue 
Citizens'  Association,  and  I  come  here  to  ask  this  committee  if  it  will 
insert  in  the  bill  an  item  which  was  asked  for  b}'  the  Commissioners 
and  was  struck  out  in  that  House.     That  was  an  item  for  an  appro- 

firiation  for  a  survey  for  a  new  bridge  at  Calvert  Street.  They  asked 
or  $10,000  for  plans  of  that  bridge.  I  do  not  think  it  is  necessary 
for  me  to  state  to  the  gentlemen  here  present  that  that  bridge  is, 
and  has  been  for  more  than  a  year,  considered  dangerous.  The 
traffic  over  it  is  limited  in  speed,  and  while  a  large  part  of  the  vehic- 
ular traffic  is  taken  off  of  that  bridge,  just  about  15  months  ago  they 
they  prohibited  all  vehicular  traffic  because  it  was  unsafe.  It  is 
now  open  for  a  limited  rate  of  speed.  The  railroad  companies  will  not 
extend  the  proper  facilities  for  cars  out  beyond  that  bridge  because 
they  say  they  can  not  put  a  slot  track  across  that  present  bridge, 
which  is  probably  true.  In  other  words,  they  do  not  want  to  put 
a  slot  across  a  bridge  which  will  have  to  come  down. 

The  estimate  asked  for  by  the  commissioners  of  SI 0,000,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  committee  of  the  association  which  has  been  thoroughly 
studying  this  matter  for  several  years,  is  not  only  for  the  plans  for 
that  bridge,  but  also  to  cover  the  plans  for  a  much  more  needed 
bridge,  where  there  is  a  much  more  dangerous  structure,  the  Klingle 
Ford  Bridge  at  Connecticut  Avenue,  about  half  a  mile  beyond  the 
Calvert  Street  Bridge,  which  bridge  was  pronounced  unsafe  by  the 
former  Engineer  Commissioner,  Col.  Harding,  except  when  used  at 
the  limited  speed  of  8  miles  an  hour.     That  regualation  is  now  on 


278  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

that  bridge.  That  bridge  was  erected  25  j-ears  ago.  It  had  some 
shght  re})airs  four  years  ago  when  it  was  pronounced  unsafe,  and 
it  has  had  none  since.  Every  gentleman  who  crosses  that  bridge 
in  a  car,  every  pleasure  seeker  who  goes  to  Chevy  Chase,  or  who 
goes  beyond  Klingle  Ford  Road,  places  his  hfe  and  the  lives  of  his 
family  in  danger,  because  that  bridge  is  dangerous,  and  the  pohce 
regulations  concerning  trafhc  are  not  observed. 

We  ask  that  this  committee  will  insert  in  the  bill  as  it  is  the  clause 
recommended  by  the  commissioners,  appropriating  $10,000  for 
plans  for  the  Calvert  Street  Bridge,  to  include  also  the  plans  for 
the  Klingle  Ford  Bridge.  We  are  quite  assured  by  competent 
engineers  that  that  amoiuit  of  money  is  sufficient  to  provide  plans 
for  any  structure  which  the  Congress  or  the  commissioners  might 
wish  to  erect  there,  within  reason,  that  woidd  be  a  credit  to  the 
city,  and  we  ask  that  that  provision  be  inserted,  and  that  it  also  be 
made  to  read  for  plans  for  both  bridges,  so  that  we  may  have  a  start. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  Klingle  Ford  Bridge  is  not  a  very  long 
bridge  t 

Mr.  Dowell.  It  is  only  about  half  as  long  as  the  other  bridge. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  is  only  about  half  as  long  as  the  Calvert 
Street  Bridge  ? 

Mr.  Dowell.-  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Curtis.  How  long  is  that? 

Mr.  Dowell.  About  225  to  275  feet.  It  could  be  narrowed  to  200 
feet  if  you  chose  to  fill  in  the  approaches  a  little  more. 

Senator  Curtis.  Do  you  want  a  cement  bridge  there? 

Mr.  Dowell.  We  would  like  to  have  a  creditable  cement  bridge, 
somewhat  on  the  order  of  the  Sixteenth  Street  Bridge. 

I  want  to  sav  to  you — but  this  is  not  the  place  to  present  it — that 
we  have  plans  for  a  bridge  there.  We  have  gone  so  far  ourselves  as  to 
get  plans  and  estimates  for  some  of  these  bridges,  and  could  submit 
them,  if  it  is  necessary  or  desirable  to  do  so. 

Senator  Smith  of  jVIaryland.  By  whom  were  these  plans  made  ? 

Mr.  Dowell.  Plans  for  the  Calvert  Street  Bridge  were  submitted 
five  or  six  years  ago.  I  can  not  recall  the  name  of  the  engineer,  but 
he  is  a  perfectly  reliable  and  competent  engineer,  a  man  who  was 
willing  to  erect  the  bridge  for  the  amount  of  the  estimate  he  submitted 
and  he  has  since  told  us  thut  the  bridge  could  now  be  erected  for 
about  one-third  less  than  the  cost  he  estimated  then,  and  we  think — 
we  were  given  to  understand — that  for  the  sum  of  $750,000  or  less 
both  bridges  could  be  put  up  the  full  width  of  the  streets,  and  ec[ual 
in  appearance  to  the  Connecticut  Avenue  Bridge. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Who  made  those  plans  ?  Was  there 
an  appropriation  for  that  at  the  time  ? 

Mr.  Dowell.  They  were  trying  to  get  an  appropriation  then. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Yes,  I  understand;  ])ut  who  was  the 
engineer  ?     Was  he  a  District  engineer  ? 

Mr.  Dowell.  No,  sir;  he  was  an  out-of-town  engineer. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Was  an  appropriation  made  for  him 
to  prepare  those  plans  ? 

Mr.  Dowell.  No,  sir;  the  work  was  done  through  the  agency  of 
this  committee,  of  whom  I  am  one  of  the  successors. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  was  appropriated  at  that  time? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPH0PR1ATI0^'    BILL,  1017.  279 

Mv.  DowELL.  Nothiu^x  was  iipproprialoil.  Wo  wore  (rvinjj;  to  '^(^l 
an  appropriation,  and  wo  submit  tod  a  sketch  plan  of  that  bridge  at 
tliat  time,  hoping  to  get  an  estimate  for  it. 

Senator  Gallixgek.  The  last  time  an  expenditure  was  made  on 
the  Calvert  Street  Bridge  they  very  unwisely,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
narrowed  it. 

Mr.  DowELL.  That  was  done  because  they  wore  afraid  that  the 
lateral  vibration  of  the  bridge  would  upset  the  bridge.  That  l)ri(lgo, 
in  my  opinion,  is  safe;  it  will  hold  anything  that  is  put  on  it.  but  it 
will  not  stand  lateral  vibration.  On  the  Ivlingle  Ford  Bridge  the 
car  company  will  not  allow  two  cars  to  pass  on  that  bridge  at  the 
same  time,  they  arc  so  careful  about  it.  They  do  not  want  it  to 
become  generally  known,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  they  are  very  careful 
about  that. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  The  commissioners  did  nc^t  make  any 
estimate  for  the  Klingle  Ford  Bridge  I 

Mr.  DowELL.  No. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  want  to  insert  the  ])ro vision  for 
plans  for  the  Klmgle  Ford  Bridge  m  this  $10,000  appropriation? 

Mr.  Do  WELL.  Yes;  we  want  the  appropriation  of  S  10,000  for  the 
Calvert  Street  Bridge,  and  add  to  it  that  it  shall  include  plans  for  the 
Klingle  Ford  Bridge. 

DEAX  tract,   ■ 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  FRED    G.  COLDREN. 

Mr.  CoLDREN.  Mi\  Chairman  and  gentlemen  of  the  committee,  I 
will  speak  very  briefly,  indeed,  and  I  want  to  speak  about  the  acqui- 
sition of  the  Dean  tract  for  a  public  park. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Whom  do  you  represent  ? 

Mr.  CoLDREX.  I  represent  the  Mount  Pleasant  Citizens'  Associa- 
tion.    I  am  the  chairman  of  the  park  committee  of  that  association. 

I  want  to  say,  in  the  ftrst  place,  that  the  members  of  that  associa- 
tion do  not  live  in  the  immodiato  vicinity  of  the  Dean  tract.  They 
live  about  a  mile  from  that  tract,  and  no  member  of  thait  association, 
so  far  as  is  known,  has  property  about  the  Dean  tract,  or  has  any 
pecuniary  interest  in  the  matter  whatever.  We  pass  the  Dean 
tract  necessarily  on  the  street  cars  when  we  go  to  and  from  our 
homes. 

The  tract  includes  9  acres  of  land.  It  is  owned  by  an  estate, 
the  heirs  of  Mr.  Dean,  deceased,  and  the  lowest  prices  it  has  bren 
offered  for  heretofore,  as  we  understand,  are  at  one  time  •'$1,250,000, 
when  the  Carnegie  P^oundation  was  seeking  to  acquire  it  for  its  pur- 
poses some  years  ago,  and  later  i?900,00b,  for  which  price  it  was 
offered  to  the  George  Washington  University  when  they  were  seeking 
to  raise  funds  to  acc[uire  that  tract.  It  has  never  been  offered  for 
less  money,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  learn.  They  have  carried 
it,  of  course,  a  great  many  years  without  its  producing  anything. 
The  heirs  arc  now  in  the  position  where  they  do  not  feel  like  paying 
increased  taxation  and  continuing  to  hold  it  further.  They  are  very 
anxious  that  it  be  used  as  a  park.  For  reasons  of  family  pv'ulc,  they 
would  very  much  rather  see  it  used  as  a  park  than  for  any  other 
purpose.  They  now  offer  it  for  8625,000,  and  that  is  .S600  more  than 
the  assessment  valuation  of  the  propert}".     The  present  assessment 


280  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

is  §624,400.  and  this  is  only  S600  more  than  the  actual  assessment, 
which  indicates  that  it  is  a  very  moderate  estimate  for  the  property. 
I  think  anyone  interested  could  ascertain  from  any  number  of  com- 
petent real  estate  men  in  this  district,  men  who  are  the  best  judges, 
that  it  is  a  very  low  price  for  the  property.  It  is  the  last  open  space 
of  any  size  on  that  car  Hue.  which  is  now  a  leading  car  line  of  the 
city,  between  Dupont  Circle  and  the  end  of  that  car  line,  which  ends 
at  Park  Road  near  Piney  Branch.  There  is  a  distance  of  two  miles 
where  there  is  no  public  park,  to  either  side  of  that  car  line.  We 
believe  that  there  never  could  be  reasonable  criticism  for  the  pur- 
chase at  this  time,  while  it  can  be  purchased,  of  that  tract  for  a  ])ublic 
park.  There  has  been  talk  at  times  of  acquiring  that  property  for 
the  purposes  of  an  up-town  White  House,  a  residence  for  the  Presi- 
dent, where  lie  would  have  an  opportunity  to  get  away  from  the 
business  White  House.  It  could  be  adapted  for  that  purpose  if 
acquired  now;  but  the  probability  is  that  those  fine  old  oaks  on  that 
property,  one  of  which  is,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  the  finest  oak 
left  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  will  be,  a  considerable  number  of 
them,  destro^T^d,  and  the  property  will  be  graded  down,  and  it  will 
be  built  over  within  a  short  time,  unless  it  is  acquired  now. 

One  idea  that  might  not  be  thought  of  at  first  is  this:  When  you 
consider  the  number  of  apartment  houses  within  three  blocks  of  that 
property-  -that  property  is  located  in  an  exceedingly  densely  populated 
sectioii  of  the  District.  There  are,  as  I  recall  it,  at  least  19  large  size 
apartment  houses  located  within  three  blocks  of  that  tract,  and  some 
others  going  up. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Others  are  goii  gup  there  now? 

Mr.  CoLUREN.  Yes;  a  very  large  on.e  is  going  up  withui  a  few  blocks. 
The  commissioners  recommended  the  acquisition  of  this  propertj^  in 
their  estimates.  The. House  committee,  as  I  recall  it,  did  not  include 
it  in  their  estimates,  but  on  the  House  floor  an  amendment  was  offered 
to  acquire  this  propert}*,  and  was  strongly  advocated  by  two  or  three 
Members  of  the  House.  I  would  refer  the  committee,  if  they  have 
not  had  an  opportunity  to  see  them,  to  the  remarks  made  by  Mr. 
Mann,  of  Illinois,  who  is,  as  we  all  know,  a  great  lover  of  nature.  His 
apostrophe  to  that  oak  tree  is  worth  reading. 

Acquiring  land  for  a  park  is  a  different  thing  from  appropriating 
money  for  almost  any  other  purpose.  It  is  a  different  thing  from 
appropriathig  mone}^"^  to  build  almost  any  building.  .Umost  any 
building  that  is  constructed  will  disappear  in  the  course  of  time.  In 
a  few  g(Mierations  it  is  gone.  If  you  acquire  thnt  park,  it  is  there  for 
all  future  generations. 

Senator  "Smith  of  Maryland.  What  are  the  park  facilities  in  tliat 
neighborliood  ?  I  have  understood  tliat  the  park  facilities  were  very 
good. 

Mr.  CoLDREX.  I  think  that  is  not  true. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  do  not  state  that  as  a  fact,  r  I  have 
heard  so. 

Mr.  CoLDREX.  East  of  this  property,  on  the  east  side  of  Sixteenth 
Street,  the  Government  acquired  three  or  four  years  ago  what  is  called 
Meridian  Hill  Park,  across  from  Mrs.  Henderson's  house.  Tliat  is 
being  im})roved  for  a  public  park.  That  extends  two  blocks  north 
and  south,  and  a  very  narrow  block  east  and  west.  That  is  a  hand- 
some piece  of  ground,  and  it  was  fine  thing  to  acquire  it.     That,  as 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  281 

you  remember,  is  on  this  row  of  hills  that  surrounds  just  outside  of 
the  old  boundary  of  the  city  limits.  This  is  the  next  tract  west  of  that 
on  any  prominent  street.  This  Dean  tract  is  located  at  the  corner  of 
Conn-^cticut  Ayenue,  just  on  the  east  side  of  Connecticut  Avenue, 
extendmg  from  the  boundary  up\yard  for  about  two  blocks,  and  that  is 
a  thoroughfare,  as  we  all  know — Connecticut  Ayenue — and  on  it  rims 
a  yery  lieayijy  traveled  car  line.  If  you  go  over  northwest  of  that 
point,  about  three  and  a  half  blocks,  you  strike  the  edge  of  Rock 
Creek  Park  at  Connecticut  Avenue  Bridge,  and  there  is  a  present 
project  for  acquiring  for  park  purposes  the  narrow  strip  of  land  along 
from  Rock  Creek  Bridge  extendmg  do\m  to  Georgetown  and  con- 
necting with  Potomac  Park.  Thus  far  it  has  been  acc{uired  only 
down  to  Connecticut  Avenue  Bridge,  and  a  very  narrow  roadway 
leads  up  to  Calvert  Street  Bridge. 

Senator  Dillingham.  That  is  to  connect  Potomac  Park  and  Rock 
Creek  Park. 

Mr.  CoLDREX.  Yes,  that  is  the  idea,  to  connect  Rock  Creek  Park 
with  Potomac  Park;  but  up  to  the  present  time  there  is  iiothii^g 
more  than  a  ver}^  narrow  strip  of  land  alono-  Rock  Creek  which  is 
ownied  by  the  Government,  dedicated  for  park  purposes.  I  think  it 
likely  they  will  accj[uire  that;  but  even  if  they  do,  there  are  enough 
people,  including  children  and  babies,  in  the  present  houses  within 
three  blocks  of  this  park,  to  whom  this  park  woidd  be  nearer  than 
any  other,  to  use  that  abundantly  every  day  of  the  year.  You  can 
judge  of  the  extent  of  the  use  of  the  park  by  passing  the  little  reserva- 
tion kno^^^l  as  Dupont  Circle  any  day  that  it  is  reasonably  pleasant, 
and  you  will  see  that  it  is  crowded  with  nurses  and  children,  to  say 
nothing  of  other  people.  That  is  a  very  small  reservation.  For 
2  miles  north  of  Dupont  Circle  there  is  no  other  public  park,  or  from 
there  up  to  the  end  of  the  car  hue.  I  think  it  would  be  a  very  great 
misfortune  if  Congress  should,  permit  that  to  be  graded  dow^l  and 
the  trees  destroyed  and  the  land  built  up. 

(^Ir.  Coldren  submitted  the  following  resolution:) 

Mount  Pleasant  Citizens  Association, 

Washington,  D.  C,  June.  22.  1016. 

I  hereby  certify  that  at  the  recular  meetins^  of  the  Mount  Pleasant  Citizens  Associa- 
tion held  Saturday.  March  18,  1916,  a  resolution,  of  which  the  following  is  a  true  copy, 
was  ae;reed  to; 

"RcaoJiyd.  That  the  Mount  Pleasant  Citizens  Association  very  strongly  advocates 
the  immediate  acquisition  of  the  property  known  as  the  Dean  tract,  located  on  Florida 
Avenue  NW.,  from  Connecticut  Avenue  to  Nineteenth  Street,  for  the  purposes  of  a 
public  park. 

"That  the  membership  of  this  association  resides  from  1  to  2  mile?  from  this  property, 
and  so  far  as  kno^\Tl  no  member  of  this  association  has  any  pecuniary  interest,  directly 
or  indirectly,  in  said  tract  of  land,  and  their  advocacy  of  its  purchase  for  a  park  i? 
based  entirely  upon  its  desirability  for  use  by  the  general  public. 

"They  urge  its  dedication  for  a  park  for  the  following  reasons' 

■'First.  It  occupies  the  most  beautiful  and  commanding  location  of  any  U:\improved 
tract  of  any  size  now  remaining  in  Washington. 

"Second.  It  contains  9-J-  acres  of  land,  and  is  the  only  open  space  of  any  size  now 
remaining  between  Dupor.t  Circle  and  the  end  of  the  Columbia  Road  car  line,  a  dis- 
tance of  more  than  2  miles. 

"Third.  It  has  a  large  number  of  the  original  forest  trees,  particularly  oaks,  of  whic  h 
there  are  few  now  remaining  in  Washington. 

"Fourth.  It  is  reliably  reported  that  unless  acquired  for  park  use  now  it  is  likely  to 
be  disposed  of  for  building  purposes  and  to  be  graded  down  and  the  trees  destroyed 
and  buildings  erected  upon  it,  which  would  add  to  its  cost  if  acquired  hereafter. 


282  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Fifth.  It  is  n.)W  offered,  if  acquired  for  a  park,  for  the  sum  of  §625,000,  that  sum 
being  within  a  few  dollars  of  the  basis  of  the  present  assessed  va;luation  of  the  property. 
It  has  never  been  offered  before,  so  far  as  ca-n  be  learned,  for  less  than  from  |900,000  to 
$1,250,000. 

'■Sixth.  That  the  price  at  which  it  is  now  offered  for  park  purposes  is  at  the  rate  of 
$1.54  per  foot,  which,  in  the  judgment  of  this  association,  is  far  below  its  present 
actual  value. 

"Seventh.  That  its  acquisition  for  a  park  is  not  for  a  commercial  or  material  purpose 
or  a  temporary  purpose.  It  will  pro\'ide  a  wide  open  space  and  pure  air  for  a  section 
already  crowded  in  population.  It  will  provide  a  breathing  sapce  for  the  great  and 
rapidly  increasiiig  numbers  of  families  living  in  apartment  houses  in  this  vicinity. 
It  will  pro\T.de  an  outing  place  for  babies  and  children  now  having  little  opportunity 
of  this  character.  It  will  contribute  materially  to  the  health  of  the  community  and 
stimulate  a  love  of  nature;  and,  finally,  its  dedication  will  be  for  all  time  and  for  all 
futm-e  generations,  not  only  for  the  residents  of  Washington  but- for  the  citizens  of  the 
entire  Nation. 

"For  these  reasons  this  association  believes  this  tract  should  be  acquired  and  ac- 
quired without  further  delay  for  perpetual  dedication  as  a  public  park. 

"James  M.  Proctor,  Secretary." 

MUNICIPAL    HOSPITAL AGAIN. 

Mr.  C.  P.  McCuRDY.  Mr.  Chairman,  we  have  decided  to  ask  Mr. 
Finch  to  present  our  views  for  our  joint  committee  protesting  against 
the  new  municipal  hospital,  Mr.  Finch  is  here  now,  and  we  wouhl 
like  to  have  him  present  our  views. 

STATEMENT  OF  ME.  GEORGE  A.  FINCH. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Whom  do  you  represent? 

Mr.  Finch.  I  am  president  of  the  Piney  Branch  Citizens'  Associa- 
tion. It  is  not  our  purpose  in  appearing  here,  Mr.  Chairman,  to 
protest  against  a  new  municipal  hospital.  We  arc  not  opposing  a 
new  municipal  hospital,  but  our  object  is  to  object  to  an  appropria- 
tion under  the  terms  of  which  the  municipal  hospital  may  be  placed 
at  the  site  at  Fourteenth  and  Upshur  Streets,  and  removed  from 
the  site  at  Reservation  No.  13.  Our  objections  are  based  upon  the 
change  of  conditions  which  has  taken  place  since  the  municipal  site 
at  Fourteenth  and  Upshur  Streets  was  acquired.  The  site  was 
accpiired  in  1900,  16  years  ago,  at  a  time  when  Washington  was 
practically  undevelopecl  north  of  the  old  boundary  line.  It  was  all 
farm  land  out  there,  and  no  streets,  no  car  lines,  and  the  site  was 
located  well  outside  of  the  city  limits,  where  it  would  not  be  an 
annoyance  to  surrounding  residents.  Owing  to  conditions  in  Con- 
gress which  developed  opposition  to  a  central  nmnicipal  hospital 
plan,  no  appropriation  has  ever  been  made  for  placing  the  municipal 
hospital  on  that  site,  and  in  the  meantime  Washington  has  had  a 
remarkable  development  up  in  that  section. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  live  in  that  section  ? 

Mr.  Finch.  Yes,  sir;  I  live  on  Emerson  Street. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Near  by  ? 

Mr.  Finch.  Yes;  and  I  am  representing  the  citizens'  association 
which  comprises  the  residents  of  the  territory  on  three  sides  of  that 
hospital  site. 

Senator  Gallinger.  To  what  extent  does  that  go  ?  I  was  waited 
on  by  a  committee  of  ladies,  and  the  spokesman  lives  on  Kennedy 
Street,  at  least  a  mile  away,  and  the  plea  was  made  that  it  would  be 
a  very  great  detriment  to  the  people  in  that  section. 


DTSTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  283 

Mr.  Finch.  I  shall  develop  that  a  little  later  on.  Kennedy  Street 
is  the  northern  limit  of  onr  jurisdiction,  but  the  hospital  is  about 
in  the  center  of  it. 

We  now  have  in  that  section  surrounding  the  hospital  al)out  500 
homes.  The}"  are  practically  all  owned  by  the  in(Uvi(hial  residents 
and  there  are  possibly  a  few  men  out  there  of  large  means,  but  they 
are  almost  all  men  of  moderate  circumstances  who  have  invested 
practically  everything  they  have  in  their  homes,  and  contrary  to 
what  has  been  stated  on  several  occasions,  I  do  not  believe  you  can 
find  any  number  of  residents  out  there  who  purchased  with  the 
slightest  idea  that  that  tract  at  Fourteenth  and  Upshur  Streets ^vas 
to  be  used  as  the  center  of  the  charitable  institutions  of  the  District 
of  Columbia.  It  may  be  possible  to  attach  to  them  some  legal  pre- 
sumption— that  they  ought  to  have  known  it — but  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  they  did  not  know  it.  I  did  not  know  it,  and  I  have  yet  to  find 
the  man  who  did  know  anything  about  the  purposes  to  which  that 
tract  was  to  be  used. 

In  the  meantime,  as  I  say,  this  community  has  grown  up  around 
this  tract,  and  we  would  regard  it  as  a  calamity  if  they  should  bring 
this  institution,  with  its  undesirable  inhabitants,  and  place  it  right 
in  the  center  of  our  homes.  The  Washington  Asylum,  which  is  the 
municipal  hospital,  and  which  will  be  the  hospital  located  at  Four- 
teenth and  Upshur  Streets,  has  been  located  on  its  present  site  for  70 
years.     It  has  been  there  since  1846. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  is  a  disgrace  that  it  has  ever  been 
there,  though,  in  the  condition  in  which  it  is  now.  We  do  not  pro- 
pose to  build  any  such  hospital  as  that  on  this  site  out  here. 

Mr.  FixcH.  We  have  been  over  there,  and  it  is  a  disgrace.  The 
disgrace  is  not  solely  because  of  its  location. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  hope  you  are  not  judging  of  what  is 
going  to  be  built  out  here  by  what  is  there. 

Mr.  Finch.  No,  Senator;  we  are  not  doing  that.  It  has  been  stated 
that  it  is  a  disgrace  over  there  simply  because  of  the  alleged  unhealthy 
conditions  existing  at  Reservation  No.  13.  The  only  unhealthy  con- 
ditions existing  over  there  are  those  connected  with  malaria.  That 
was  an  argument  years  ago  for  getting  appropriations  from  Congress 
to  reclaim  the  flats,  and  that  has  been  largely  done,  and  the  ofhcial 
statistics  of  the  hospital  for  last  year  show  that  out  of  3,000  patients 
they  only  had  50  cases  of  malaria.  That  is  just  about  one-half  of  the 
percentage  of  malaria  all  over  the  city  of  Washington,  as  shown  by 
the  report  of  the  Board  of  Charities  for  the  visiting  physician  to  the 
poor  in  their  homes,  and  comparison  of  the  number  of  cases  treated 
with  the  number  of  cases  of  malaria  sliows  that  all  over  Washington 
there  is  double  the  percentage  of  malaria  that  there  is  at  the  Wash- 
ington Asylum  Hospital;  so  that  the  argument  in  favor  of  its  removal 
on  the  ground  of  malaria  does  not  hold  good. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Then  you  are  in  favor  of  the  hospital 
being  placed  at  the  old  stand? 

Mr.  Finch.  Yes,  as  the  best  way  of  remedying  conditions. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  would  you  do  with  this  property 
out  here  ? 

Mr.  Finch.  There  are  several  things  you  can  do  with  it.  They 
have  there  now  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital. 


284  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917, 

Senator  Smith  of  Mar3'laiid.  Is  this  more  objectionable  than  that 
Tuberculosis  Hospital? 

Mr.  Fixcii.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  In  what  way  '. 

Mr.  Finch.  It  is  larger  and  will  attract  a  much  more  undesirable 
class  of  citizens.  The  Washington  As3dum  Hospital  is  made  up 
largely  of  alcoholics  and  mental  suspects,  and  people  suffering  from 
vice  diseases.  The  patients  in  it  are  always  over  50  per  cent  of  them 
colored,  and  the  means  of  access  to  the  hospital  depend  largely  upon 
the  police  department.  It  is  really  an  annex  of  the  police  department, 
which  can  not  be  said  of  the  present  histitution.  The  inmates  are 
carried  there  largely  in  the  patrol  wagons,  and  they  are  discharged 
from  the  institution  to  be  let  out  and  let  roam  around  the  neighbor- 
hood. 

Another  argument  in  favor  of  its  removal  has  been  the  fact  that 
they  needed  a  central  location.  The  location  at  Fourteenth  and 
Upshur  is  not  anywhere  near  the  center  of  the  city. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  argument  has  never  been  made  by  any- 
one interested  in  that  hospital. 

Mr.  FixcH.  I  read  that  in  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Charities.  I 
am  making  my  statements  upon  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Charities. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Every  sane  man  knows  it  is  not. 

Mr.  FixcH.  That  statement  is  made  constantly  in  the  reports  of 
the  Board  of  Charities,  which  I  am  basing  my  statement  on. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  may  be. 

Mr.  FixcH.  As  the  Senator  says,  it  is  nowhere  near  the  center  of 
the  cit}'.  and  it  is  entu'ely  out  of  relation  to  the  population  which 
surrounds  it.  Nobody  who  lives  an^-where  in  that  neighborhood  will 
ever  use  it,  except  the  hired  help  in  the  houses  out  there,  perhaps. 

The  Board  of  Charities  also  proposes  to  run  a  dispensary  out  there. 
If  it  is  put  there,  it  will  dispense  medicines  where  the  people  can  not 
get  them  without  traveling  clear  across  the  city,  from  the  southern 
part  of  the  city  to  the  extreme  northern  part. 

Senator  Smith  of  IMaryland.  That  is  not  the  object  of  the  hos- 
pital, though.     It  is  not  an  emergency  hospital,  by  any  means. 

Mr.  FixcH.  We  can  not  see  any  reason  for  placing  the  hospital  in 
a  location  where  there  is  no  need  for  it,  and  where  it  will  upset  values 
and  deprive  people  of  homes  who  have  gone  out  there  without  any 
thought  whatever  that  they  would  be  expected  to  live  next  to  such 
an  institution  as  that,  and  we  have  yet  to  find  any  valid  reason  for 
removing  it  from  its  present  location.  As  I  said  before,  the  only  real 
reason  has  been  on  the  ground  of  malaria,  and  that  is  not  borne  out 
at  all  by  official  statistics. 

Furthermore,  if  the  statements  of  the  Board  of  Charities  and  the 
secretary  of  the  board  can  be  taken  into  consideration,  this  is  only 
the  begiuuing  of  a  plan  for  a  large  municipal  plant,  involving  between 
20  and  25  buildings.  The  ground  they  have  available  out  there  for 
placing  such  buildings  is  limited  to  15  or  16  acres.  They  li^ve  33 
acres  there,  but  they  plan  to  use  15  or  16  acres  for  the  actual  build- 
ings.    The  rest  of  it  is  rather  hilly,  and  full  of  trees. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  is  not  very  hilly. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  not  that  a  large  acreage,  15  or  16 
acres  ? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    ArPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  285 

Mr.  Finch.  The  fyround  plan  of  llio  li()sj)ital  shows  that  the  build- 
ings will  be  ]:)retty  close  together  and  that  the  object  in  nioying  there 
is  to  have  better  recreation  grounds.  At  the  present  location  they 
have  50  acres.  The  whole  reservation  is  70  acres,  but  20  acres  is 
used  by  the  jail.  The  site  is  capable  of  unlimited  ex])ansion  on 
practically  reclaimed  ground  on  the  west.  There  are  150  or  200  acres 
right  on  the  west  of  the  present  site  which  could  be  used  for  enlarging 
that  property  if  they  found  the  present  50  acres  was  insufficient  for 
the  purpose. 

This  matter  has  been  carefully  considered  by  our  association.  We 
have  protested  against  it  for  the  last  three  years.  We  have  a]:)peared 
before  the  House  committee,  and  we  have  appeared  before  the  com- 
missioners. The  commissioners  gave  a  ])ublic  hearing  a  few  weeks 
ago,  and  the  largest  number  of  persons  who  ever  attended  such  a 
pubhc  hearing  here  appeared  there  before  the  commissioners  and 
objected  to  this  proposition.  We  turned  people  away  from  the  doors. 
There  were  over  620  right  in  the  room  at  the  time.  Our  association 
has  protested.  Other  associations  have  joined  in  our  protest,  whose 
members  live  in  the  surrounding  country. 

The  board  of  trade  has  joined  with  us,  the  chamber  of  commerce 
has  joined  with  us,  the  citizens'  associations  of  other  sections  of  the 
city  have  expressed  the  view  that  the  site  at  Fourteenth  and  Upshur 
Streets  at  the  present  time  is  unsuitable  for  a  municipal  hospital, 
and  a  number  of  other  business  organizations  have  expressed  the 
same  view,  and  it  is  our  earnest  wish  that  the  Senate  subcommittee 
if  it  decides  totake  up  this  question  will  not  make  it  possible  for  the 
appropriation  to  be  used  for  removing  the  Washington  Asylum 
Hospital  to  the  site  at  Fourteenth  and  Upshur  Streets.  As  we 
understand  the  situation,  the  item  has  been  eliminated  entirely  from 
the  bill  as  passed  by  the  House.  As  I  said  in  the  beginning,  we  are 
not  in  opposition  to  an  appropriation  for  a  new  municipal  hospital. 
We  are  simply  hero  to  object,  and  to  object  strenuously,  and  enter  our 
urgent  protest  against  any  appropriation  under  wdiich  it  will  be  pos- 
sible for  the  commissioners  to  use  the  appropriation  for  removing  the 
Washington  Asylum  Hospital  to  the  site  at  Fourteenth  and  Upshur 
Streets. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Are  you  familiar  with  the  location  of  hos- 
pitals in  other  cities  i 

Ail-.  FiNcn.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  have  given  it  no  attention  at  all  ? 

Mr.  Finch.  No,  air. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  might  be  interesting  for  you  to  look  into  it 
and  see  where  other  hospitals  are  located. 

Mr.  Finch.  We  would  hke  to  offer  in  evidence  the  printed  protest 
we  have  made,  and  before  I  close  I  would  like  to  call  attention  to  one 
other  thing,  in  reference  to  improvements  in  reservation  No.  13. 
They  have  a  number  of  buildings  down  there,  and  I  believe  they  are 
using  the  poorest  of  those  buildings  for  hospital  purposes.  As  I  said 
before,  we  do  not  believe  that  the  people  in  charge  of  the  hospital 
have  made  a  real  effort  to  make  conditions  down  there  as  good  as 
they  might  h:\  For  a  number  of  years  they  have  had  three  of  four 
substantial  brick  buildings   there  that  coiild  be  used  for  hospital 


286  DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

purposes,  vnth  some  slight  remodeling,  which  are  being  used  for 
storage  purposes,  and  in  1912  the  Senate 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryhxnd.  I  think  the  committee  went  over 
those  buildings,  and  found  they  were  absolutely  inadequate  and 
unusable. 

Mr.  Finch.  How  long  ago  was  that.  Senator? 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  A  year  or  two  ago. 

Mr.  Finch.  Yes.  As  I  was  about  to  state,  I  wanted  to  read  a 
report  on  their  adaptability  to  the  use,  made  by  the  commissioners, 
in  which  they  said  they  thought  they  were  usable. 

vSonator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Just  leave  that. 

Mr.  Finch.  I  would  like  to  incorporate  that  letter  in  the  record, 
showing  that  for  an  expenditure  of  S75,000  or  $80,000  they  can  have 
a  hospital  which  will  accommodate  350  patients,  about  100  more  than 
the  maximum  that  they  have  had  there  when  they  had  the  most 
patients. 

vSenator  Gallinger.  Of  course  you  know  that  in  the  development 
of  Washington  Massachusetts  Avenue  will  be  extended  to  that  reserva- 
tion, and  with  probably  a  bridge  across  the  Eastern  Branch. 

Mr.  Finch.  Our  feeling  about  that,  Senator,  is  that  it  will  be  a  good 
thing  to  improve  that  section  of  the  city  with  some  modern  buildings. 

Senator  Gallinger.  How  many  people  do  you  suppose  you  would 
have  at  a  mass  meeting  out  there,  protesting,  if  the  statement  was 
made  that  instead  of  putting  this  hospital  where  it  was  originally 
intended  it  was  to  be  put  on  that  reservation  ? 

Mr.  Finch.  I  had  not  attempted  to  compute  that. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  is  the  same  old  story.  Whenever  you  at- 
tempt to  do  anything  in  Washington  there  is  the  same  old  protest. 
If  you  attempt  to  pave  streets,  there  is  always  a  protest.  But  this 
is  a  substantial  protest.  I  recognize  it.  And  a  great  many  people 
join  with  you  in  that.  That  ^ite  at  Fourteenth  and  Upshur  Streets 
was  purchased  for  the  very  purpose  for  which  it  is  now  proposed  to 
use  it.  I  had  something  to  do  with  it.  It  was  after  a  very  tliorough 
investigation  by  distinguished  physicians  from  different  parts  of  the 
country.  Thirty-four  acres  were  purchased,  and  the  Tuberculosis 
Hospital  occupies  a  very  small  part  of  it.  Supposing  one-half  was 
devoted  to  modern  buildings,  so  far  as  the  control  of  the  patients  was 
concerned  do  you  really  think  that  it  is  going  to  damage  j^our  prop- 
erty ? 

Mr.  Finch.  I  am  convinced  that  it  is.  I  am  so  convinced,  that  if 
the  hospital  goas  there  I  know  many  of  our  people  will  try  to  dispose 
of  their  property  and  get  away  from  there.  They  will  not  live  within 
a  few  blocks  of  an  institution  of  that  kind. 

So  far  as  the  purchase  of  a  site  is  concerned,  if  Confess  had  appro- 
priated the  money  and  put  their  hospital  there  within  a  few  years 
of  the  time  it  was  bought,  there  would  have  been  no  reason  for  protest. 
We  would  not  have  been  there.  People  who  wanted  to  live  around 
an  institution  of  that  kind  would  have  bought  around  it  and  would 
be  living  there.  But  Congress  did  not  do  that.  The  thing  has  drifted 
along  for  15  years,  and  in  the  meantime  that  proposal  for  this  large 
plant  has  been  turned  down  year  after  year  in  Congress.  Wlien  they 
put  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital  there  the  appropriation  act  contained 
the  express  provision  that  the  hospital  was  to  be  placed  on  that  site 
without  reference  to  any  existing  or  proposed  plan  for   any   other 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  287 

hospital  on  that  site,  so  that  it  practically  removed  any  legal  presump- 
tion in  favor  of  the  subsequent  building  of  another  hospital  on  that 
site. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  \vas  it  presumed  that  the 
property,  the  ground  there,  ^yas  going  to  be  used  for  ( 

Mr.  FixcH.  Possibly  for  accommodating  the  tuberculous  patients. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Thirty-four  acres  ? 

Mr.  Finch.  They  ought  to  have  a  thousand  acres.  If  the  Senators 
would  go  and  mvestigate  that  hospital,  they  \vould  see  that  the 
plant  is  entirely  inadequate  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  now  used. 
That  will  be  apparent  when  I  inform  Senators  that  white  and  colored, 
of  both  sexes,  have  to  eat  in  the  same  room  in  that  hospital  now. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Are  you  sure  of  that  ? 

]\Ii'.  Finch.  I  am  sure  of  it.  I  was  told  less  than  a  week  ago  by  a 
patient  who  had  done  it.     And  they  have  no  place  for  recreation. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  does  not  require  a  thousand  acres 
of  land  to  separate  those  people. 

Mr,  Finch.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  is  utterly  extravagant  when  you 
say  that  a  thousand  acres  is  necessary  for  the  hospital.  I  know 
something  about  tuberculosis  hospitals,  and  they  have  no  use  for 
any  such  quantity  of  land  as  a  thousand  acres. 

Mr.  FixcH.  They  need  more  than  they  have.  It  has  been  stated 
that  they  use  that  as  a  dying  place  rather  than  a  place  to  which  to  go 
to  recuperate. 

Senator  Gallingee.  I  thmk  the  mortality  is  not  larger  there  than 
in  other  tuberculosis  hospitals;  not  larger  than  it  might  be  in  the 
mountains. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Is  there  any  amount  of  business  in  this 
locality  around  that  hospital  ? 

Mr.  Finch.  There  is  no  business  at  all  in  our  section.  Our  par- 
ticular location  has  restrictions  against  business  on  it. 

Senator  Dilliniigam.  Do  you  mean  m  the  titles  ? 

Mr.  Finch.  Yes.  And  a  covenant  of  that  kind  has  been  upheld 
in  the  courts.  We  have  carried  it  to  the  courts,  and  the  validity  of 
our  titles  have  been  approved  by  the  courts,  so  that  there  is*^  no 
possibilit}^  of  business  getting  into  our  location. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  think  you  stated  that  there  was  some 
restriction  as  to  the  sale  of  property  to  colored  people. 

Mr.  Finch.  Yes;  there  is  a  restriction  as  to  the  sale  of  lots  to 
colored  people. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Over  what  area  do  those  restrictions  extend  ? 

Mr.  Finch.  Those  restrictions  cover  what  is  known  as  Saul's 
addition;  that  is,  to  my  personal  knowledge.  I  do  not  know  about 
places  above  us.  I  presume  they  have  the  same  restrictions;  but 
Saul's  addition  is  immediately  to  the  north  of  the  site.  You  under- 
stand the  hospital  site  comes  to  Allison  Street  and  the  hospital 
begins  at  Buchanan  Street,  so  that  the  hospital  is  right  at  our  iront 
door  as  we  go  doAni  to^^^l. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  would  be  if  it  was  built  there. 

Mr.  FixcH.  It  will  be  built  there.  One  of  the  psychopathic  wards 
will  be  located  on  AlUson  Street,  right  underneath  our  windows  on 
Buchanan  Street, 


288  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

I  thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen. 

(Ti'.p  followmg  statement  and  appended  matter  was  submitted  by 
Mr.  Finch:) 

STATEMENT  OF  GEORGE  A.  PINCH,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  PIN  EY  BRANCH  CITIZENS*  ASSO- 
CIATION, IN  OPPOSITION  TO  THE  PROPOSED  REMOVAL  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ASYLUM 
HOSPITAL  TO  FOURTEENTH  AND   UPSHUR  STREETS   NW. 

Briefly,  the  situation  from  our  point  of  \'iew  is  this:  The  land  at  Fourteenth  and 
Upshur  Streets  was  purchased  16  years  ago  when  Washington  was  practically  unde- 
veloped north  of  Florida  Avenue.  '  It  was  plainly  the  intention  at  that  time  to  place 
the  institution  outside  the  residential  sections  of  the  city,  vrhere,  in  the  words  of  a 
committee  of  the  board  of  trade  which  made  a  report  on  the  matter  in  1900,  it  could 
be  located  '"at  a  minimum  of  annoyance  to  the  community."  Ovdng,  however,  to 
constant  opposition  in  (  ongress  to  the  plans  for  the  centralization  of  all  charitable 
cases  in  one  large  public  hospital,  no  apijropriation  has  ever  been  made  for  building 
a  municipal  hospital  on  the  proposed  site,  although  attempts  have  1  een  made  by  the 
commissioners  and  the  Board  of  v  harities  year  after  year  to  get  such  an  appropriation. 
In  1906  when  (  ongress  appropriated  money  for  the  construction  of  the  Tiiberculosis 
Hospital  Oil  the  site,  the  appropriation  bill  expressly  provided  that  the  hospital  should 
"be  situated  and  constructed  on  said  site  without  reference  to  existing  or  proposed 
plans  for  any  other  hospital  on  said  site. "  The  present  agitation  is  a  revival  of  these 
old  plans  for  erecting  on  this  site  a  central  municipal  hospital  which,  in  the  words  of 
the  Board  oi  (  harities  in  their  report  for  1914,  is  "designed  to  provide  ultimately 
hospital  care  for  all  charitable  cases  not  provided  for  by  private  charity."  It  is  true 
the  appropriation  now  requested  amounts  only  to  $150,000,  Ijiit  the  estimates  contain 
the  provision  that  "the  limit  of  cost  of  the  construction  of  said  hospital  and  accessory 
buidings  is  hereby  fixed  at  $500,000:  Provided,  That  said  hospital  shall  be  constructed 
■with  a  veiw  to  maldng  future  additions,  as  the  exigencies  may  demand." 

Since  the  site  was  purchased  in  1900  there  has  been  a  remarkable  development  in 
this  section  of  the  city.  From  farm  land  it  has  been  turned  into  what  is  probably 
the  most  substantial  part  of  Wasliington.  Solid  rows  of  houses  are  built  right  up  to 
and  adjoining  the  site,  and  beyond  it  for  a  great  distance  are  first-class  sul)urban  sec- 
tions containing  many  fine  residences.  In  the  Piney  Branch  section  alone  there  are 
over  500  homes,  which,  with  the  ground,  are  valued  at  $5,500,000. 

To  bring  such  an  institution  as  the  Washington  Asylum  Hospital  into  this  commu- 
nity at  this  late  day  would  have  a  disastrous  effect  "upon  the  property  and  be  emi- 
nently unfair  to  the  residents.  The  details  concerning  the  undesirable  and  unwhole- 
some character  of  the  patients  who  are  treated  at  the  hospital  and  who  must  always 
be  cared  for  by  it,  no  matter  where  it  is  located,  are  stated  from  official  sources  in  the 
inclosed  printed  pamphlet.  Any  doubts  as  to  the  depressing  effect  of  the  institution 
upon  the  surrounding  community  ^vill  be  immediately  dispelled  by  a  personal  A-isit 
to  it.  There  can  be  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  fair  person  that  the  institution  will, 
if  removed  to  the  Piney  Branch  section,  act  like  a  cancer  on  the  human  body  and 
gradually  but  surely  stagnate  the  present  healthy  development  and  ultimately  con- 
vert that  section  into  a  community  of  persons  who  are  content  to  live  within  the 
shadow  of  buildings  harboring  all  the  dope  fiends,  mental  suspects,  and  persons  suf- 
fering from  vice  diseases,  who" are  not  acceptable  to  other  hospitals. 

Such  a  result  would  be  as  unfair  to  the  residents  of  tliis  section  as  it  is  unwise  from 
an  economic  point  of  view.  The  citizens  in  the  territory  which  will  be  affected  if 
the  hospital  is  placed  on  the  proposed  site  are  practically  all  home  owners  who  settled 
in  the  community  in  entire  ignorance  that  this  land  was  bought  16  years  ago  for  muni- 
cipal hospital  purposes.  If  the  hospital  is  placed  here,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  live 
permanently  in  close  proximity  to  it  or  break  up  our  homes  and  dispose  of  our  hold- 
ings at  a  sacrifice,  which  many  of  us  can  ill  afford. 

Nor  can  we  see  any  valid  reason  for  changing  to  our  location  this  institution  which 
has  been  established  "for  70  years  on  reservation  No.  13.  The  principal  reason  given  by 
the  backers  of  the  project  if'that  reservation  No.  13  is  unhealthy  because  of  the  presence 
of  malaria.  That  was  a  valid  argument  years  ago  for  reclaiming  the  flats,  diul  since 
that  work  has  })rogressed  the  oflicial  .statistics  disjirove  that  the  jn-e.-^ent  Washington 
Asvlum  Ho.spital  has  more  than  its  share  of  malaria.  Out  of  :UO;i  patients  last  year 
there  were  only  52  cases  of  malaria,  and  out  of  8,687  patients  during  the  last  three  years 
there  were  only  105  cases  of  malaria,  or  an  average  percentage  of  1  and  t\\o-t(>nths. 
During  the  same  period,  out  of  a  total  of  10,681  indigent  patients  treatedin  iliiMrhomes, 
there  were  226  cases  of  malaria,  or  a  percentage  of  2  and  one-tenth,  or  nearl>-  double  for 
the  whole  city  what  the  W^ashington  As\  lum  Hospital  shows,  based  on  percentage  of 
cases  of  malaria  to  the  total  cases  treated. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPKIATLON    BILL,  1917.  289 

Another  arguuient  lor  ronioval  is  hasod  on  an  alleged  central  location,  but  anyone 
familiar  with  the  city  knows  that  Foiiteenth  and  Upshur  Streets  is  in  the  extreme 
northern  end  of  the  city  and  far  removed  from  the  population  which  has  most  need  for 
a  miimci])al  hospital.  To  j)lace  the  hospital  on  the  i)roposed  site  would  require  that 
practically  all  of  the  patients  be  transjHirted  the  entire  length  of  the  city  to  reach  it. 
It  is  also  pro{)osed  to  ran  a  dispensary  with  the  new  hospital,  bnt  to  i)lace  such  a  dis- 
pensary at  Fourteenth  and  UjK-hur  .>treets  or  Upshur  Street  and  Georgia  Avenue  would 
make  it  practicalh  useless  to  the  [)eople  who  would  most  desire  to  use  it.  Again,  the 
sick  from  all  sections  of  Washington  would  be  obliged  to  travel  the  entire  length  of  the 
city  and  back  to  get  needed  treatment.  0\ving  to  the  suburban  character  of  the 
developments  beyond  the  site,  it  is  absm-d  to  tliink  that  it  will  ever  even  apjn-oximato 
the  center  of  population  of  the  city;  and,  furthermore,  owing  to  the  fact  tliat  the  pro- 
posed site  is  situated  in  a  narrow  strip  of  land  between  Rock  Creek  Park  and  Soldiers' 
Home,  it  is  inaccessible  from  both  the  eastern  and  western  sections  of  the  city,  and  as 
far  from  the  southern  sections  of  the  city  as  it  could  well  be  placed.-  The  fact  that  it  is 
so  situated  on  this  narrow  neck  of  land,  abutting  the  two  car  lines  which  feed  the 
northern  sections  of  the  city  for  miles  beyond,  makes  its  location  there  all  the  more 
harmful  to  property  in  the  northern  section,  for  people  can  not  be  expected  to  settle 
in  communities  dependent  upon  car  lines  which  will  be  constantly  used  by  the  inmates 
of  such  an  institution  and  their  associates. 

The  present  location  on  reservation  No.  13  contains  50  acres,  against  33^  at  Four- 
teenth and  Upshur  Streets.  There  is  ample  room  for  expansion  on  the  present 
location  by  the  acquisition  of  desirable  laud  immediately  adjoining,  which  is  assessed 
at  only  5  cents  per  foot,  while  at  Fourteenth  and  Upshur  Streets  there  is  practically 
no  available  ground  for  expansion.  Some  idea  of  the  increase  in  values  in  the  Piney 
Branch  section  may  be  had  by  considering  that  the  hospital  site  was  purchased  in 
1900  for  S80.000,  but  it  is  now  valued  at  about  four  times  that  amount. 

Finally,  to  abandon  the  location  on  reservation  13  means  the  loss  of  an  investment 
of  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  value.  There  are  three  modern  brick  build- 
ings now  on  the  ground  used  for  storage  purposes,  and  the  worst  of  these  buildings  ia 
better  than  the  best  one  used  for  hospital  piu'poses. 

These  buildings  were  formerly  the  workhouse  buildings  and  the  laundry  building. 
The  two  former  have  been  unused,  except  for  storage  purposes,  for  several  years,  and 
in  1912  Congress  asked  the  commissioners  for  an  estimate  of  the  cost  of  remodeling  them 
for  hospital  purposes.  The  commissioners  replied  that  they  could  be  made  into  hos- 
pital buildings  sufficiently  large  to  accommodate  350  patients  (about  100  more  than 
the  maximum  number  of  patients  at  the  hospital)  for  the  sum  of  |80,000. 


Commissioners  of  the  District  op  Columbia, 

Washington.  November  9,  1912. 
To  tho  Senate  of  the  United  States: 

The  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia  have  ihe  honor  to  submit  the  follow- 
ing, in  response  to  an  item  contained  in  the  District  appropriation  act  for  the  fiscal 
year  ending  June  30,  19J3,  and  for  other  purposes,  approved  June  26,  1912,  which  reads 
as  follows: 

•'The  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia  are  hereby  directed  to  report  to 
Congi-e.ss  at  the  beginning  of  its  next  session  as  to  the  cost  and  feasibility  of  adapting 
oneor  more  of  the  vacant  buildings  upon  ihe  site  of  the  Washington  Asylum  and  Jail, 
reserii'ation  numbered  thirteen,  for  use  for  municipal  hospital  piuposes." 

An  inspection  was  made  of  the  buildings  on  reservation  Xo.  13.  the  site  of  the  Wash- 
ington Asylum  and  Jail,  by  the  municipal  architect,  who  was  accompanied  by  the 
Superintendent  of  the  Capitol  Buildings  and  Grounds,  and  the  Superintendent  of  the 
Washington  .\sylum  and  Jail,  and  it  was  their  opinion  that  the  buildings  best  adapted 
for  munif  ipal  hospital  purposes  are  the  east  and  sotith  wings  of  the  former  male  work- 
house. The  other  buildin':rs  on  the  reservation  were  not  in  their  opinion  suitable  and 
could  not  be  made  suitable  with  reasonable  alteraiions. 

The  east  and  .south  wdngs  of  the  former  male  workhouse  stand  about  40  feel  apart  and 
at  right  ang'es  to  eac  h  other.  These  buildings  are  well  constructee  and  in  a  good 
state  of  preser\-ation. 

The  Superintendent  of  the  Washington  Asylum  and  Jail  reports  that  at  the  time  of 
the  in.spection  he  had  about  175  patients,  and  that  the  number  of  patients  varies  from 
al)out  !.")0  in  mild  weaiher  to  about  226  dining  the  winter  months. 

To  adapt  the  l)ui!dings  above  named  for  use  for  munici]:)al  hospital  purposes,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  put  two  floors  in  the  south  wdng,  and  three  floors  in  the  east 

45737—16 19 


290  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

wing,  which  is  ahout  10  feet,  or  one  story,  higher  than  tlie  south  wing.  The  estimated 
cost  of  the  changes  necessary  in  the  south  wing  is  S34.555.80,  and  in  the  east  wing 
1-13,194.50.  making  a  total  cost  for  the  changes  in  the  two  buildings,  exclusive  ot  furni- 
ture and  movahle  hosjutal  equipment,  of  $77,750.30.  Ahout  .^■"S.OOO  additional  will 
also  1  e  needed  to  move  one  of  the  present  frame  hos}  ital  wards,  and  convert  it  to  use 
as  an  administrative  Iniilding.  This  wpuld  mak^?  the  total  cost  of  the  alterations 
necessary  to  ada])t  the  liuildings  for  use  for  municipal  hos}  ital  purposes  alout  S81.000. 

If  these  changes  are  made  accommodations  will  be  fui  iiif^hed  for  al)out  150  l;eds  in  the 
south  wing,  and  about  200  1  eds  in  the  oast  wing,  a  total  of  350  b.eds.  The  alterations 
would  cost  at  the  rate  of  11  cents  a  cul  ic  foot,  or  $231  per  lied. 

This  estimate  isexclusive  of  furnitiu'e, and  moAable hosj  ital  equipmentuhich would 
be  required,  but  includes  the  alt?ration  of  two  safety  boilers  in  the  south  wing,  which 
when  altered  will  furnish  heat  for  the  two  ])uilidngs,  and  the  frame  administration 
l)uilding  whi(  h  v;ould  1  e  moved  and  relocated  in  the  angle  formed  l>y  the  front  walls 
of  the  east  and  south  wings  of  the  former  male  workhouse  abo\'e  referred  to. 

The  commissioners  believe  that  from  a  structural  point  of  view  it  would  lo  feasible 
to  adapt  the  east  and  south  wdngs  of  the  former  male  workhouse,  located  ujion  the 
site  of  the  Washington  Asylum  and  Jail,  reservation  No.  13,  for  use  for  riiunicipal 
hospital  purposes  at  a  cost  of  about  $81 ,000. 

As  to  the  advisability  of  spending  so  mu<h  money  in  adapting  the  buildings  in 
question  to  a  new  use,  in  view  of  the  prolnd.de  abandonment  of  the  site  for  such  pur- 
poses in  the  not  distant  future,  and  further,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  District  has 
acquired  and  now  owns  an  admiral^le  site  for  a  municipal  hospital  in  a  more  convenient 
and  healthful  location,  the  commissioners  are  not  asked  to  express  an  ojdnion.  They 
feel  that  it  is  only  fair  to  say,  however,  thul  with  the  limitation  necessarily  imposed, 
no  architect  could  remodel  "the  old  Iniildings  into  as  suitable  a  structure  as  would  be 
one  designed  and  ])uilt  for  hospital  purposes. 
Very  respectfully, 

Board  of  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbi.x, 
Bv ,  Preside}} t. 


Protest  Against  the  Removal  of  the  Washington  Asylum  Hospital  to  the 
Site  Between  Georgia  Avenue,  Fourteenth,  Upshur,  and  Allison  Streets 
NW. — Some  Facts  Which  You  Should  Know  and  Act  Upon  Concerning  the 
above  Proposal  now  Pending  Before  Congress. 

The  undersigned  citizens'  associations  feel  it  their  duty  to  bring  to  the  attention 
of  the  residents  within  their  respective  jurisdictions  the  exact  situation  with  reference 
to  the  above  proposal  and  to  call  to  their  notice  certain  facts  concerning  the  hospital 
and  its  ])robal)le  effect  upon  the  surrounding  community. 

The  institution  which  it  is  proposed  to  locate  on  the  above  site  under  the  name  of 
the  Municipal  Hospital  is  the  Washington  Asylum  Hospital,  now  located  on  Reser- 
vation 13,  at  Nineteenth  and  B  Streets  SE.,  w'here  it  has  stood  for  70  y(>ars  since  its 
establishment  there  in  1846.  Its  removal  has  been  made  a  part  of  the  plan  of  the 
Board  of  Charities  to  provide  better  facilities  for  taking  care  of  the  city's  public  charges 
and  the  poor  in  ne"ed  of  hospital  treatment.  With  this  benevolent  purpose  all  high 
minded  and  charitable  citizens  heartily  and  deeply  sympathize,  and  in  bringing  the 
following  facts  to  the  notice  of  the  residents  w^ho  will  be  seriously  aO'ected,  the  under- 
signed disclaim  any  desire  or  intention  to  oppose  or  hamper  the  laudable  efforts  of 
the  commissioners  and  the  Board  of  Charities  to  remedy  the  present  deplorable  con- 
ditions existing  at  the  Washington  Asylum  Hospital.  Its  removal  to  the  proposed 
site  is,  however,  not  necessary  to  the  carrying  out  of  the  plans  for  improvement.  Its 
location  in  the  northern  end  of  the  city,"  far  removed  from  the  sections  from  which 
nearly  all  of  the  inmates  come,  would  be  a  decided  detriment,  in  some  respects,  to 
its  efficiency:  and,  in  addition,  its  location  in  one  of  the  best  residential  sections  of 
the  city  would  be  highly  prejudicial  to  the  personal  and  property  interests  of  the 
residents  of  the  community  and,  therefore,  unnecessarily  and  grossly  unfair  to  them. 

facts  regarding  the  hospital  and  its  inmates. 

A  few  facts  taken  from  the  reports  of  the  Board  of  Charities  and  the  superintendent 
of  the  hospital  will  throw  much  light  on  the  probable  effect  of  the  hospital  upon 
territory  within  a  consideiat>le  surrounding  radius. 

The  general  character  of  the  pat  ients  who  are  sent  to  this  institution  is  thus  described 
by  the  Board  of  Charities  in  their  report  for  1914: 

"As  pointed  out  in  previous  reports,  the  i)opulation  of  Washington  Asylum  is  made 
up  of  those  patients  which  are  not  acceptable  to  other  institutions.     They  consist 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  lOll.  291 

largely  of  patients  suffering;  from  chronic  and  specific  diseases,  and  in  considerable 
part  of  inebriates  and  suspected  insane  persons.  They  also  comprise  sick  jjrisoners 
from  the  jail  and  persons  held  by  the  police.  Many  of  the  chroni(;  patients  are  incon- 
tinent and  dirt>-  and  require  the  most  untiring  effort  to  keep  them  in  clean  and  whole- 
come  condition." 

COLOR   AXD   SEX    OF   PATIENTS. 

During  the  last  fiscal  year  the  hospital  cared  for  3,103  patients,  who  were  classified 

according  to  sex  and  color  as  follows: 

Colored : 

Males 942 

Females 564 

],506 
\Miite: 

Males 1, 175 

Females 422 

1,597 
The  daily  average  number  of  inmates  for  the  year,  computed  according  to  patients' 
days,  was  according  to  the  figures  in  the  superintendent's  report,  as  follows: 
Colored: 

Males 64 

Females 49 

113 
White: 

Males 56 

Females ^ 29 


DISEASES   TREATED. 

The  following  statistics,  also  taken  from  the  report  of  the  superintendent  for  last 
year,  show  the  nature  and  number  of  certain  cases  treated: 

Acute  alcoholism 437 

Delirium  tremens 80 

Clii'onic  alcoholism 62 

Morphinism -. 51 

Scabies 11 

Svpliilis  and  other  venereal  diseases 165 

P"ella,gia 9 

Mental  diseases 580 

SOURCES   OF   ADMISSION. 

There  are  several  ways  of  being  admitted  to  the  hospital:  (1)  on  permits  issued  by 
the  Board  of  Charities;  (2)  by  being  brought  in  by  the  police;  (3)  by  transfer  from 
the  jail;  and  (4)  by  admission  through  the  superintendent  who,  in  his  last  report, 
gives  the  follo^ving  information  concerning  the  admissions  from  each  of  these  sources: 

"Of  the  3.103  patients  admitted  during  the  year,  1,736  were  received  on  permits 
issued  by  the  Board  of  Charities,  583  were  brought  in  by  the  police  department,  294 
were  transferred  from  the  District  jail,  and  86  were  admitted  thi-ough  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  hospital.  The  emergency  cases  numbered  244.  Nearly  all  of  those 
brought  in  by  the  police  department  were  either  mental  suspects  or  victims  of  alcohol 
or  morphine." 

JAIL   PATIENTS. 

The  transfer  of  prisoners  from  the  jail  to  the  hospital  is  further  explained  as  follows 
by  the  superintendent  in  his  report  for  1913: 

"Quite  a  large  number  of  prisoners  are  committed  to  the  jail  by  the  courts  for  fur- 
ther hearing,  \\-ith  the  request  for  'hospital  treatment'  or  for  'mental  observation.' 
A  number  of  these  cases  would  probably  not  be  committed  to  the  jail  at  all  except 
for  the  fact  that  the  court  knows  of  the  facilities  in  our  psychopathic  ward  for  observing 
and  treating  these  cases." 


292  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

THE    PSYCHOPATHIC    WARD. 

Some  further  information  regarding  the  "psyc  hcpatliic  ward'  referred  to  by  the 
superintendent  seems  necessary  to  a  lawman,  in  order  to  avoid  error  or  exaggeration, 
we  will  again  quote  the  superintendent  in  his  report  for  1913: 

'"The  ward  which  is  the  largest  and  most  important  unit  in  the  hospital  is  kno^vn 
as  the  psychopatliic  ward,  which  cares  for  the  mental  suspects,  alcoholics,  and  dope 
fiends.  Last  year  we  had  573  mental  cases,  of  which  267  after  careful  examination 
and  treatment  were  traxisferred  to  the  Government  Hospital  for  the  Insane.  In  this 
ward  we  al.^0  treated  5C9  alcoholics,  and  many  addicted  to  the  cocaine  habit.  *  *  * 
Many  of  the  mental  cases  in  the  acute  stages  are  so  noisy,  unruly,  and  profane  that  they 
disturb  patients  even  in  the  buildings  far  removed." 

In  his  report  for  1915.  the  superintendent  states  that  the  psychopathic  ward  is 
used  for  "not  only  the  observation  and  treatment  of  hundreds  of  mental  suspects — 
many  of  them  ^■iolent — -but  also  the  care  and  treatment  of  many  acute  alcoholic  and 
dope  fiends.  *  *  *  In  this  building  there  are  no  proper  facilities  for  segregating 
patients  according  to  color,  and  the  recreation  gi-ounds  are  neither  as  attractive  nor 
as  extensive  as  they  should  be." 

IMPOSSIBILITY   OF   SEPARATING    OBJECTIONABLE    FEATURES. 

It  has  been  vaguely  intimated  by  some  of  the  backers  of  the  proposal,  who  have 
sought  to  minimize  the  depressing  effect  of  the  institution  upon  the  proposed  new 
neighborhood,  that  the  hospital  will  be  used  only  by  the  worthy  poor  and  that  its 
objectionable  features  will  not  accompany  it  to  its  new  quarters.  This  assurance  is 
not,  however,  borne  out  by  the  ofiicial  reports  of  those  who  are  and  will  be  responsible 
for  the  management  of  the  hospital.  It  certainly  is  not  intended  that  the  psycho- 
pathic ward,  "the  largest  and  most  important  unit  in  the  hospital,"  will  be  separated 
from  it.  But  we  are  not  left  to  speculation  on  this  point.  In  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee of  physicians  to  a  Joint  Select  Congi-essional  Committee,  dated  November  24, 
1897,  and  reprinted  in  the  report  of  the  Board  of  Charities  for  1913,  may  be  found  the 
following  detinite  recommendation: 

•'It  is  recommended  that  wards  for  temporarj-  detention  of  insane  persons  and  of 
cases  of  alcoholism,  who  may  be  arrested  on  the  streets  or  who  may  fall  into  the  custody 
of  the  police  to  be  detained  pending  their  examination  and  legal  disposition,  be 
erected  in  connection  ^\'ith  the  municipal  hospital,  and  that  the  temporary- detention 
of  insane  persons  in  the  station  houses  or  jail  pending  such  examination  be  prohibited ." 

And  the  Board  of  (  harities.  in  their  report  for  the  fo  lowing  year,  in  referring  to  the 
present  inadequate  facilities  for  providing  the  patients  in  the  psychopathic  ward  \vith 
needed  outdoor  exercise,  remarks: 

"Of  course  it  must  be  recognized  that  the  physical  limitations  at  tliis  institution 
are  such  that  no  satisfactory  arrangements  can  be  made  for  the  care  of  patients  until 
new  buildings  are  provided" at  the  municipal  hospital." 

INCREASE    OF   HOSPITAL   POPULATION. 

The  official  reports  also  show  that  there  is  a  steady  annual  increase  in  the  number 
of  patients  treated  at  the  hospital,  and  we  are  informed  by  the  Board  of  Charities,  in 
their  report  for  1914.  that  the  new  hospital  is  "designed  to  provide  ultimately  hospital 
care  for  all  charitable  cases  not  provided  for  by  private  charity."  According  to  the 
tables  in  the  board's  report  for  1915.  the  number  of  free  patients  admitted  to  the  hos- 
pitals under  the  supervision  of  the  board  during  the  year  ended  June  30.  1915.  was 
10.434.  excluding  those  in  Washington  Asylum  Hospital.  From  these  figures  it  is  not 
difficult  to  estimate  the  much  larger  proportions  wliich  tliis  institution  is  designed 
ultimately  to  assume. 

EFFECTS   OP  THE    INSTITUTION    UPON   THE    SURROUNDING   COMMUNITY. 

If,  after  what  has  been  stated,  any  argument  is  needed  as  to  the  unwholesome  effect 
of  such  an  institution  upon  the  community  in  which  it  is  located,  reference  n^ed  only 
be  made  to  its  effect  upon  the  community  in  which  it  is  at  present  located. 

EFFECT   ON   PRESENT   LOCATION. 

A  subcommittee  of  the  Washington  Board  of  Trade  reported  in  1900  that  the  insti- 
tutions located  on  reservation  13  "blocked  the  way  to  improvement  and  growth  in 
that  direction  of  our  city"  and  "that  the  extent  of  the  present  obstruction  to  the 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  293 

natural  growth  of  our  city  in  the  eastwavtl  direction  can  be  shown."  A  newspaper 
writer,  who  in  1914  apparently  made  an  extended  visit  to  the  locality,  which  he 
referred  to  as  "a  Government  reservation  with  an  evil  and  unhappy  past,  a  present 
that  is  in  most  ways  dreary  and  depressing,""  thus  describes  the  effect  of  the  institu- 
tions located  thereon,  and  gives  one  of  the  principal  reasons  for  their  removal: 

"Another  and  an  important  reason  put  forth  for  the  removal  of  the  penal  and  elee- 
mosynary institutions  from,  and  the  reclamation  of.  tliis  large  public  tract  for  healthier , 
public  use.'!  is  that  the  presence  of  these  institutions  casts  a  pall  over  a  large  section  of 
eastern  Washington.  Mnders  the  development  of  the  city  toward  the  east."  (The 
Sunday  Star.  Oct.  18.  1914.  part  4,  p.  5.) 

The  figures  in  the  assessor's  office  are  silent,  but  trustworthy  proof  of  the  correctness 
of  i!re  foregoing  statements,  for  they  show  that  in  nine  squares  adjacent  to  Reserva- 
tion i3.  the  average  assessed  price  of  land  is  exactly  5  cents  per  square  foot. 

PROBABLE    EFFECT  ON   PROPOSED   NEW   LOCATION. 

Are  ihere  any  plausible  grounds  for  the  belief  that  this  institution  will  iniprove 
the  community  into  wliich  it  is  proposed  to  remove  it,  or  for  the  assertion  that  it  Avill 
not  injure  it".^  Is  there  any  assurance  from  its  j)ast  or  from  the  unalterable  character 
of  its  future  that  if  will  not  do  for  Northwest  ^\ashington  what  it  has  already  done  for 
Southeast  Wasliington"? 

DANGER    TO    THE    COMMUNITY. 

The  potential  clanger  to  the  community  of  an  institution  harboring  such  a  large 
number  of  mental  suspects,  human  derelicts,  and  patients  afflicted  with  contagious 
and  loathsome  diseases  is  obvious  to  anyone  who  has  read  the  foregoing  facts  showing 
the  conditions  within  the  hospital. 

DEPRESSIVE    EFFECT    UPON    NEIGHBORING    RESIDENTS. 

The  sight  of  the  institution  as  a  permanent  reminder  of  the  unfortunates  within  its 
walls  can  not  fail  to  produce  a  constant  feeling  of  gloom  upon  all  those  who  must  pass 
by  and  live  near  it.  In  good  weather  the  neighbors  on  abutting  streets  on  all  sides 
will  have  the  alternative  of  watching  the  inmates  get  their  exercise  and  fresh  air  in 
the  hospital  grounds  or  of  themselves  remaining  indoors, 

USE    OF    STREETS    FOR    TRANSPORTING    PATIENTS   AND    CASES. 

The  streets  leading  to  the  institution  will  be  the  lanes  of  trafr.c  over  wliich  the 
thousands  of  inmates  must  be  carried  to  and  from  the  hospital,  and  the  ambulances 
and  police  patrol  wa.gons  will  be  familiar  and  daily  sights  and  nightly  annoyances 
upon  these  thoroughfare.^. 

DISCHARGE    OF   INMATES   AT  DOORS   OF  INSTITUTION, 

The  inmates  ^vill  be  discharged  at  the  doors  of  the  institution  and  left  to  their  own 
resoiu-ces  and  inclinations  for  making  their  way  back  to  their  places  ot  abode. 

USE    OF    STREET  CAR    LINES    BY    INMATES    AND   ASSOCIATES, 

The  street  car  lines  on  Georgia  Avenue  and  Fourteenth  Street,  upon  which  all 
residents  of  northern  Wasliington.  together  with  their  wives,  children,  and  friends, 
must  travel,  will  be  the  means  of  transportation  for  many  of  the  inmates  on  the  way  ' 
to  and  from  the  hospital  and  for  their  friends  and  associates  in  visiting  them.  This 
undesiral)'e  addition  to  the  trall"c  on  these  car  lines  will  affect  not  only  the  teis-itory 
immediately  adjacent  to  the  hospital,  but  practically  all  territory  north  of  U  Street 
which  is  dependent  upon  them. 

USE    OF    PROPOSED    SITE    WILL    BLOCK    DEVELOPMENT    OF    LARGE    TERRITORY    OF  WHICH 
IT    IS    THE    GATEWAY, 

The  proposed  site  is  located  in  a  narrow  strip  of  land  between  the  Soldiers"  Home 
and  Rock  Creek  Park,  in  the  midst  of  a  large  and  rapidly  improving  suburban  sec- 
tion of  the  city.  The  location  of  .such  an  institution  in  the  midst  of  theseimprove- 
ments.  and  flanking  the  two  car  lines  which  are  the  only  means  of  reaching  this  sec- 
tion and  a  much  larger  suburban  section  beyond,  will  undoubtedly  check  the  present 


294  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

substantial  and  handsome  developments  in  those  sections  and  eventually  cause 
present  values  to  deteriorate.  Desirable  purchasers  can  not  be  expected  to  settle 
or  invest  in  sections  where  they  can  not  avoid  traveling  at  least  twice  a  day  ujion 
car  lines  used  by  so  large  a  number  of  the  character  of  passengers  which  the  poor- 
house  hospital  and  the  public  sanatorium  will  attract. 

REASONS    FOR    THE    PROPOSED    REMOVAL   CONSIDERED. 

The  reason  for  the  proposal  to  remove  the  Washington  Asylum  Hospital  from  its 
present  location,  where  it  has  already  done  all  the  damage  it  can  possibly  do,  to  one  of 
the  best  residential  and  suburban  sections  of  the  city,  where  the  damage  it  can  do  is 
inestimable,  is  not  a  lack  of  room  for  making  the  desired  improvements,  for  there  are 
70  acres  in  the  reservation  where  it  is  now  located ,  which  it  is  estimated  will  be  increased 
by  about  50  per  cent  when  the  reclamation  of  the  Anacostia  Flats  is  finished,  as  against 
33^  acres  in  the  proposed  new  site. 

ALLEGED    UNHEALTHY    CONDITION    OF    PRESENT   LOCATION. 

One  reason  given  is  that  the  present  location  is  unhealthy,  and  the  prevalence  of 
malaria  is  referred  to.  But  the  malarial  conditions  are  being  rapidly  improved  by  the 
reclamation  of  the  Anacostia  Flats,  and  the  official  statistics  of  the  hospital  show  that 
last  year  there  were  only  52  cases  of  malaria  out  of  the  total  of  3,103  patients.  Moreover, 
the  residents  of  East  Washington  consider  the  present  location  of  the  hospital  admirably 
adapted  as  a  site  for  the  new  Eastern  High  School  and  for  a  great  stadium  for  holding 
contests  between  the  schools  and  colleges,  and  are  urging  that  such  use  be  made  of 
the  ground  after  the  hospital  is  removed. 

SEPARATION    OF   POOR   FROM    THE    JAIL. 

The  desire  to  separate  the  worthy  poor  from  the  jail  is  given  as  another  reason  for  the 
removal  of  the  hospital.  We  have  already  pointed  out  the  large  percentage  of  inmates 
who  are  victims  of  their  own  ^dces,  and  to  whom  the  application  of  the  term  "unworthy 
poor"  would  not  seem  uncharitable,  and  who  must  necessarily  always  be  cared  for  at 
the  institution,  regardless  of  its  location.  We  have  also  shown  that  a  large  number  of 
iail  prisoners  are  regularly  received  and  treated  in  the  hospital,  and  it  is  further  shown 
m  the  report  of  the  superintendent  that  prisoners  are  employed  in  service  about  the 
hospital  when  the  number  of  paid  employees  is  insufficient  to  do  the  work.  It  is 
submitted  that  neither  criminal  patients  or  employees,  nor  the  unworthy  or  the  worthy 
poor  should  be  treated  in  such  a  way  as  to  work  hardship,  injustice,  and  irreparable 
injury  upon  a  large  and  substantial  part  of  the  community,  made  up  of  good  citizens 
who  are  adding  to  its  intellectual  and  material  development. 

DESIRABILITY    OF   CENTRAL   LOCATION. 

Another  reason  given  is  the  advantage  of  ha\dng  the  hospital  established  in  the 
center  of  the  city f  but  the  proposed  new  site  is  nowhere  near  the  center  of  the  city, 
and  has  no  relation  whatever  to  the  center  of  the  population  in  most  need  of  free 
medical  treatment  and  which  is  likely  to  furnish  the  largest  number  of  cases,  no  matter 
where  the  hospital  is  located .  The  new  site  is  several  miles  from  the  sections  of  the  city 
which  supply  the  Washington  Asylum  Hospital  with  the  great  majority  of  its  patients 
and  cases. 

PURCHASE    OF   PROPOSED    SITE. 

The  final  reason  given  is  that  the  proposed  site  was  purchased  and  is  now  o^yned  by 
the  Government  for  hospital  purposes.  The  facts  are  that  the  purchase  was  made  in 
1900,  when  Washington  was  practically  undeveloped  north  of  Florida  Avenue,  the  old 
boundary  line.  The  selection  of  such"  a  location  at  that  time  shows  conclusively  that 
it  was  the  intention  to  place  the  institution  well  outside  the  residential  sections  of  the 
city,  and,  in  the  words  of  the  subcommittee  of  the  board  of  trade  above  reierred  to, 
where  it  could  be  located  "at  a  minimum  of  annoyance  to  the  community."  The 
present  policy  is  clearly  a  reversal  of  the  poUcy  pursued  when  tlio  site  was  acquired, 
for  the  hosj)ital  can  not  now  be  loc-ated  on  that  site,  except  at  a  maximum  of  annoyance 
to  the  community.  The  new  site  has  been  allowed  to  remain  unu.sed  for  the  purpose 
for  which  it  was  acquired  for  16  years,  during  which  time  a  first-class  residential  com- 
munity has  sprung  up  on  all  sides  and  completely  surrounds  it  for  miles  around. 
Practically  all  of  the  residents  have  permanently  settled  in  the  community  and  pur- 
chased their  homes  in  entire  ignorance  that  it  was  intended  to  make  any  such  obnoxious 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    ArPROPRlATlOX    BILL,  liilT.  295 

uso  of  this  vacant  grouiul  as  is  now  nrgo.l.  I'nliko  sections  of  the  city  wliciv  tlic 
the  residents  are  £i:enerally  renters  of  their  homes,  tlie  residents  of  the  sections  wlu(di 
will  be  injuriously  affected  by  the  proposed  hospital  must  either  stay  in  llie  community 
and  put  up  with  "the  presence  of  this  institution  and  its  unwholesome  imnates  or  (lis- 
pose  of  their  properties  at  a  sacrifice,  which  a  great  many  of  them  can  ill  afford.  The 
reasons  which  actuated  the  recent  order  of  the  commissioners  to  close  a  private  sana- 
torium of  small  capacity  in  Chevy  Chase  seem  to  apply  with  much  greater  force  to  the 
contemplated  location  of  this  larger  and  less  desirable  almshouse  hospital  and  public 
sanatorium  in  a  no  less  desirable  and  high-class  residential  section. 

By  reason  of  the  high-class  character  of  the  improvements  now  surrounding  the  pro- 
posed site,  it  is  estiniated  to  be  worth  about  four  times  its  original  price,  which  was 
$80,000.  It  could,  therefore,  easily  be  disposed  of  with  a  profit  to  the  District  on  its 
investment. 

PRESENT    STATUS    OF   THE    PROPOSAL. 

In  placing  the  foregoing  facts  and  statements  before  the  resideiits  in  llieir  respective 
jm-isdictions.  the  citizens'  associations  feel  that  they  have  discharge  1  a  ])ublic  duty 
to  the  communities  which  they  represent.  They  have  appeared  l>efor(^  coinmittees 
of  Congress  in  the  last  two  yea'rs  and  protested  against  the  proposal.  The  item  has 
again  been  inserted  in  the  appropriation  bill  for  the  District,  now  under  consideration 
in  the  Appropriation  Committees  of  the  House  and  Senate.  Plans  for  the  hospital  have 
already  been  prepared,  and  the  actual  work  of  construction  will  begin  as  soon  as  the 
appropriation  is  made. 

ACTION   SUGGESTED. 

If  you  are  interested  in  preserving  yoiu*  neighborhood  as  a  suitable  |)lace  for  your 
home,  you  are  urged  to  write  at  once  to  the  commissioners  and  to  the  chairmen  of  the 
Senate'and  House  Appropriation  Committees,  and  to  any  friends  that  you  may  have 
in  Congress,  p)ro testing  against  the  location  of  the  hosjiital  on  the  proposed  site  and 
statingVour  views  as  to  its  effect  iipon  you  and  upon  your  jwoperty  and  neighborhood. 
It  is  only  by  an  outburst  of  popular  disapproval  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  respon- 
sible oflicials  and  legislators  that  we  may  hope  to  accomplish  any  permanent  relief 
from  this  aiinually  recurring  danger  which  so  seriously  threatens  us. 

The  time  is  near  at  hand  wlien  Congress  must  act,  and  you  should  lose  no  time  in 
writing  if  you  desire  to  help  to  keep  this  institution  out  of  your  section  of  the  city. 

PiNEY  Branch  Citizens'  Association. 

Brightwood  Citizens'  Association. 

Brightwood  Park  Citizens'  Association. 

Columbia  Heights  Citizens'  Association. 

Petworth  Citizens'  Association. 

Park  View  Citizens'  Association. 

Takoma  Park  Citizens'  Association. 

WOODBURN    AND    ChILLUM    CaSTLE 

Heights  Citizens'  Association. 
Board  of  Trade. 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 
Washington,  D.  C,  March  11,  1916. 

STATEMENT  OF  DR.  CHARLES  M.  EMMONS. 

Dr.  Emmons.  I  am  pivsidoiit  oi  (]ie  East  Washington  Citizens'  Asso- 
ciation, and  wo  at  our  last  meeting  sent  a  eommimication  liere  making 
a  suggestion  as  to  the  sohition  of  t)us  question  of  the  location  of  the 
hospital.     Our  people  live  in  t.he  vicinity  of  reservation  No.  13,  where 

{)resent  Washington  xVsyhnn  Hos]iital  is  located.  I  want  to  say  I 
ived  there  tliree  years  myself,  and  I  know  all  about  the  location  and 
adaptability  of  that  section.  We  protest  against  tlie  relocation  or 
rebuilding  of  tliat  hospital  on  the  present  site,  and  \vc  do  so  bccaues 
of  a  number  of  reasons.  One  is  that  the  reservation  belongs  to  the 
Federal  Government.  It  v.-as  originally  laid  out  as  a  park,  and  some 
years  ago,  I  think  about  six  or  seven  years  ago,  Congress  })rovi<hMl 
ifor  a  commission  to  provide  a  relocation  of  t]ie  workliousi^  l)iiil(Hngs, 
botli  male  and  female,  and  of  the  jail,  and  that  commission  did  its 


296  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1911. 

work  iind  reportod  to  Congress,  and  Congress  transferred  all  oi  tlie 
workhouse  })ris()ners,  and  provided  also  for  a  reforamtorv,  down  in 
^'irginia.  That  leaves  now  on  tliat  reservation  only  old,  dilapidated 
buildings  of  the  liospital  division  and  a  smallpox  liospital  and  crema- 
tir.ii  pl;)nt.  It  is  our  belief  t-iat  Congress  should  remove  those  pres- 
ent ])uildings,  beeause  they  arc  a  disgrace  as  they  are  located,  and  it  is 
becoming  really  a  crime  to  use  them. 

We  had  hoped,  however,  that  a  solution  would  be  reached  by 
using  that  reservation  for  a  hospital.  Last  session  I  entered  into 
quite  a  fight  here  before  you  gentlemen  against  the  purchase  of 
ground  fi'onting  this  reservation  for  a  hospital  site,  preferring  that 
reservation  No.  13  should  be  used.  However,  that  did  not  avail, 
and  the  high-school  site  was  purchased  and  the  Eastern  High  School 
site  now  is  located  right  across  the  street  from  this  reservation  No.  13, 
so  that,  if  that  hospital  is  built  there,  we  will  have  the  Eastern  High 
School  facingit. 

Reservation  No.  13  is  about  50  acres  in  area,  and  when  enlarged 
will  have  about  150  acres,  and  there  is,  according  to  the  Army  plan, 
a  bridge  to  be  .rect.d  across  the  Potomac,  and  we  want  that  for  park 
purposes. 

We  do  not  wish  to  say  that  you  should  put  this  hospital  at  any  one 
po;nt.  We  believe  that  this  whole  question  could  be  settled  by  the 
appointm<nit  of  a  commission  of  three  commissioners  b}'  the  President 
of  the  Unit.'.Hl  States,  just  as  was  done  when  the  workhouse  was 
relocated,  and  then  this  commission  could  report  to  the  next  session 
of  Congress  as  to  where  vrould  be  the  best  location  and  what  could 
be  done  in  the  way  of  building  a  municipal  hospital.  That  could  be 
done  at  an  expanse  of  about  $3,000,  and  that  commission  could  take 
up  all  the  CjUestions  of  what  character  of  buildings  there  should  be, 
and  as  to  where  the  buildings  should  be  located,  and  as  to  whether 
or  not  v\e  actually  needed  a  municipal  hospital.  The  situation  is 
this 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  think  there  is  any  question 
as  to  the  need  of  a  municipal  hospital  in  this  city  ? 

Dr.  Emmoxs.  I  think  the  situation  could  be  met  without  buihling 
a  new  hospital,  and  I  think  so  because  I  am  very  familiar  with  all  the 
details  of  hospital  work  here,  having  practiced  medicine  constanth' 
for  25  years  here,  and  in  ^laryland,  just  across  the  line.  1  will  say 
this,  that  we  have  to  accoinmodate  about  150  patients,  at  tlu^  most, 
at  least  100  of  those  of  negro  blood,  and  the  rest  white.  Freedman's 
Hospital  had,  a  few  months  ago,  on.e  wliole  ward  that  was  absolutely 
empty,  (^ongress  has  not  provided  any  furniture  for  that  ward. 
If  it  was  provided  with  furniture,  it  would  be  able  to  take  care  of  40 
cases.  Give  that  hospital  a  new  ward  at  a  cost  of  SI 50,000  at  the 
most,  and  it  would  ])rovide  for  eveiy  one  of  the  negro  indigent  pa- 
tients. Give  the  Home  for  Incurables  a  provision  for  enlarging  their 
institution,  a  measure  for  which  they  have  ])ending,  and  it  would  take 
care  of  the  whites.  I  only  suggest  that  as  meeting  the  i immediate 
necessity,  and  1  think  it  A\'ould  meet  the  needs  for  50  years;  but  I 
rather  would  approve  of  the  providing  for  a  commission  of  three  gen- 
tlejnen  appointed  by  the  President,  to  take  up  this  whole  question, 
to  consider  all  the  information  that  tht^se  gentlemen  have  and  that 
we  have,  and  mak(^  a  re]K)rt  to  you  as  to  what  would  be  the  best  solu- 
tion of  the  question.     We  certainly  do  not  want  it  located  on  the  pres- 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1017.  297 

cnt  sito.  It  would  not  bo  fair  to  tho  Federal  Government  to  take 
that  beautiful  park  and  use  it  for  h(x-^j)ital  purposes.  l)ecause  it  was 
never  intended  for  that  use,  and  to  use  it  for  that  just  because,  for 
some  yeare  it  has  been  there  is  not  fair  to  that  section.  The  section 
is  growins:,  and  it  would  have  grown  more  rapidly  than  it  has  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  fact  that  the  flats  were  not  reclaimed.  The  improve- 
ment of  the  flats  will  be  completed  within  a  few  months. 

One  other  thing  I  want  to  speak  of  in  behalf  of  my  section,  and 
that  is  this:  We  have  heard  talk  of  asking  this  committee  to  appro- 
priate SeOO.OOO  for  a  park.  We  do  not  object  to  tliat,  but  we  do 
say  this,  that  the  commissioners  have  estimated  for  a  number  of 
schools  in  east  Washington.  The  total  amount  probably  would  not 
exceed  .S25,000.  One  of  them  I  have  in  mind  is  next  to  a  school- 
house  on  Eleventh  Street  SE.,  the  Tyler  School.  They  have  asked 
for  .?6,000  to  put  a  breathing  space  around  that  school,  and  the 
House  committee  has  not  provided  for  any  breathing  spaces  around 
(uir  crowded  schoolhouses,  and  I  urge  that  that  be  taken  care  of. 
'NMien  you  are  considering  the  question  of  buying  more  ground, 
consider  the  urgent  necessity  of  these  school  children.  It  is  a  small 
amount  of  money  and  will  do  the  greatest  amount  of  good. 

Senator  Cltrtis.  From  your  information  and  knowledge  of  the 
situation,  are  you  satisfied  that  the  present  site  could  be  enlarged 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  take  care  of  all  the  patieiits  that  would 
require  attention  ? 

Dr.  Emmoxs.  The  buildings  I  speak  of  ? 

Senator  Curtis.  Yes. 

Dr.  Emmoxs.  Yes,  su\ 

Senator  Curtis.  It  could  be  enlarged  so  as  to  take  care  of  them? 

Dr.  Emmoxs.  Yes.  As  I  say,  the  Freedmen's  Hospital  is  to-day 
absolutely  under  the  control  of  the  Go\ernment  of  the  United  States, 
and  we  have  there  already  indigent  sick  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  say  there  is  ore  ward  in  that  hospital  that  is 
unoccupied  ? 

Dr.  Emmoxs.  There  is  one  ward  that  has  no  furriture.  No  fur- 
niture has  ever  been  supplied  for  it.  That  was  the  ii" formation  when 
the  question  was  up  last  ^ear,  and  the  information,  then  was,  from 
the  superintendent  of  that  hospital  building,  that  one  ward  was  rot 
equipped  with  nurses  or  beds,  and  all  that  would  be  required  there 
wouhl  be  to  equip  that  ward  and  then  to  build  another  wing.  Freed- 
men's Hospital  is  built  in  crucial  shape.  There  are  a  number  of 
buildings  going  out  from  the  main  building  and  the  administration 
building,  and  they  are  two  stories  in  height,  and  can  be  added  to 
with  xovy  little  difficulty.     That  would  save  expense. 

As  I  sa}',  this  commission  would  not  only  have  the  duty  of  investi- 
gating the  question  of  relocation  of  this  municipal  hospital,  but  also 
would  have  the  right  to  suggest  to  Congress  some  place  where  they 
could  remove  the  smallpox  cases  and  the  cremation  plant.  The 
smallpox  patients  now  are  treated  within  a  mile  of  this  Capitol,  and 
the  bodies  of  the  indigent  dead  are  burned  within  a  mile  of  this  Cap- 
itol, and  we  believe  that  those  things  should  be  cared  for;  and  we 
believe  that  this  idea  of  a  commission  to  take  up  this  question,  as  the 
Senate  did  in  disposing  of  the  workhouse  question  and  the  prison 
question,  is  the  best  plan.  Your  body  (fid  that  very  thing,  and  they 
accomplished  the  purpose.  It  will  also  accomplish  the  purpose  this 
time  in  relation  to  the  question  of  increased  hospital  facilities. 


298         nsTRiCT  OF  Columbia  appropeiation  bill,  1917. 
STATEMENT  OF  MR.  JESSE  C.  SUTEE. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Whom  do  you  reprosent,  Mr.  Suter? 

Mr.  SuTER.  I  am  vice  president  of  the  Petworth  Citizens'  Associa- 
tion, and  one  of  their  official  representatives  on  the  joint  committee 
on  protest  against  the  location  of  the  municipal  hospital  in  their 
neighborhood.     Petworth  is  immediately  east  of  the  proposed  site. 

Senator  Gallinger.  How  far  do  you  live  from  it? 

]Mr.  Suter.  I  live  right  at  the  corner  of  Georgia  Avenue  and  Web- 
ster Street,  in  sight  of  the  present  Tuberculosis  Hospital  and  very  near 
to  where  it  is  proposed  to  locate  the  psychopathic  ward,  and  I  have 
had  a  chance  during  nearly  the  past  five  years  to  observe  conditions 
surrounding  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital,  the  visitors  there,  and  some 
of  the  day  patients,  who  as  a  rule,  those  who  use  the  Washington 
Railway  dc  Electric  Co.'s  cars,  get  off  right  at  my  corner.  They  get 
off  the  cars  there  and  go  to  the  hospital  and  get  on  the  cars  there  later 
in  the  day. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  that  objectionable  in  any  wa}^? 

Mr.  Suter.  Yes;  it  is  rather  objectionable,  because  they  are  hang- 
ing around  the  corner  there,  a  lot  of  these  patients.  As  a  rule  they 
are  not  a  very  desirable  class  of  citizens  in  the  residence  section. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  mean  the  visitors  are  not  a  de- 
sirable class? 

Mr.  Suter.  Well,  the  visitors;  and  then  some  of  the  day  patients; 
antl  some  of  the  patients  are  wandering  around  through  that  section 
of  the  city  around  Georgia  Avenue,  going  into  the  stores — some  of 
the  grocery  stores  and  a  drug  store  there  at  the  corner  of  Upshur 
Street. 

We  have  been  very  much  disappointed  out  in  Petworth,  and  in  the 
other  sections  surrounding  there,  that  the  District  Commissioners  have 
not  modified  their  recommendations  to  Congress  with  reference  to 
the  location  of  the  hospital,  and  I  would  like  to  leave  with  the  com- 
mittee a  copy  of  a  presentation  of  our  views  which  we  presented  to 
the  commissioners  at  a  hearing  on  the  1st  of  May. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  suppose  you  are  familiar  with  the  topog- 
raphy of  the  District  of  Columbia  ? 

Mr.  Suter.  Yes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Wliere  would  you  put  this  hospital  if  you  did 
not  put  it  there  ? 

Mr.  Suter.  I  would  put  that  hospital  there  on  its  present  site;  or, 
I  think,  down  in  the  neighborhood  of  Blue  Plains,  down  in  the 
neighbt)rhood  of  the  poor  farm,  which  is  a  delightful  place.  I  am 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  District  of  Columbia.  I  was  born  here, 
and  m}^  father  is  an  octogenarian  and  he  was  born  here.  We  feel 
that  we  have  some  knowledge  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  have 
knowledge  of  conditions  here.     We  have  seen  things  grow. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Do  you  really  think  such  a  hospital  should  be 
located  at  Blue  Plains? 

Mr.  Suter.  Most  of  the  chronic  cases,  I  think,  would  be  pretty  well 
taken  care  of  down  there.  I  was  very  much  impressed  with  Blue 
Plains  as  being  a  charming  place.  Many  of  the  emergency  cases  are 
taken  care  of  nearer  than  that. 

This  hearing  we  had  before  the  commissioners,  at  which  there  were 
eight   citizens     associations   represented   besides    the    federation    of 


DISTKICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  299 

citizens  associations,  the  chamber  of  commerce  and  the  ])oar(l  of 
trade,  was  the  Largest  hearing  ever  held  by  the  District  Commissioners. 
Without  going  into  this  extensively,  I  would  say  that  Mr.  Finch  has 
covered  most  of  the  points,  and  I  thirik*  the  insistence  for  3'ears  of  our 
citizens  of  East  Washington  on  the  removal  of  these  institutions  from 
their  section  is  one  of  the  best  arguments  against  putting  them  in  a 
residence  section,  a  section  that  is  purely  a  residence  section. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  We  have  not  had  any  protests  from 
them. 

Mr.  Sltter.  There  has  been  a  protest  for  years  to  remove  these 
institutions,  an  agitation  for  the  removal  of  these  institutions  from 
East  Washington.  I  understand  from  the  remark  of  the  chairman 
that  the  committee,  of  course,  have  visited  these  sites  and  are 
familiar  with  them. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  have  visited  them,  and  I  presume 
all  the  members  of  the  committee  have. 

Mr.  Sl'ter.  We  suggest  that  a  study  of  the  proposed  plan — the 
ground  plan  of  those  buildings — be  made.  On  looking  over  them 
we  are  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  site  is  wholly  inadequate  for 
such  a  large  group  of  buildings.  Looking  into  the  matter,  tne  mem- 
bers of  the  joint  committee  have  been  impressed  with  the  idea  that 
a  large  group  of  buildings  of  that  kind  should  be  centrally  placed  in 
a  large  tract  of  ground,  so  that  the  buildings  would  not  be  in  close 
proximity  to  the  streets  or  adjacent  to  private  property,  and  some 
of  these  buildings  are  very  near  the  building  line.  It  is  proposed  to 
put  a  great  many  buildings  into  one-half  of  the  holdings  around  the 
tuberculosis  tract.  There  are  about  34  acres  there,  and  Thirteenth 
Street  is  to  be  extended  there,  and  it  is  proposed  to  erect  all  of  these 
buildings  east  of  Thirteenth  Street  between  Thirteenth  Street  and 
Rhode  Island  Avenue  and  Allison  and  Upshur  Streets,  with  the 
exception  of  the  power  house,  the  laundry,  and,  I  believe,  the  fumi- 
gation plant.  Those  are  the  only  buildings  that  are  exceptions. 
Buildings  that  are  directly  associated' with  the  power  plant  are  to  be 
located  west  of  Fifteenth  Street,  a  little  north  of  the  present  Tuber- 
culosis Hospital. 

The  people  throughout  our  section  are  practically  unanimous;  I 
have  not  run  across  a  man  m  Petwortb,  and  I  am  pretty  well  laiown 
among  the  1,200  home  owners  we  have  out  there,  who  is  not  earnestly 
protestbig  against  the  location  of  the  hospital  on  that  site. 

Senator  Gallixger.  How  large  a  proportion  of  3'our  membership 
lives  a  n\ile  away  from  the  proposed  hospital  ? 

Mr.  SuTER.  I  do  not  think  any  of  them  live  a  mile  away. 

Senator  Gallixger.  How  many  of  them  live  a  half  mile  away  ? 

Mr.  SuTER.  I  do  not  think  but  very  few  live  a  half  mile  away. 
Most  of  our  development  is  right  over  in  that  section.  Petworth  is 
khid  of  hemmed  in  there,  so  that  our  r.ccess  to  the  whole  section  is 
through  Georgia  Avenue,  and  Georgia  Avenue  would  carry  the  brunt 
of  the  load  of  people  to  and  from  this  hospital. 

Our  joint  committee  is  familar  with  conditions  at  the  Washington 
Asylum  Hospital,  and  ever^^one  is  agreed  that  conditions  down  tliere 
are  disgraceful  in  those  old  frame  buildings.  But  no  matter  what 
kind  01  buildings  are  erected,  whether  they  have  beautiful  green 
tiled  roofs  or  no  matter  how  artistic  they  are,  it  is  not  going  to 
change  the  character  of  the  inmates  at  all,  and  in  going  through  the 


300  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

present  Washington  Asylum  Hospital  there  were  six  members, 
representing  this  joint  citizens'  association,  and  we  were  impressed 
more  by  the  inmates,  by  the_^  character  of  the  inmates  of  that  hos- 
pital, than  we  were  by  anythmg  else,  and  we  were  largely  influenced 
in  our  report  to  our  several  bodies  by  the  character  of  the  people 
we  saw  there,  both  the  inmates  and  the  people  who  came  to  visit 
them,  than  by  anything  else.  We  accepted  a  suggestion  of  some 
one  acquainted  with  conditions  there  and  made  our  visit  there  on  a 
Sunday  forenoon.  We  were  told  that  there  were  more  visitors  on 
that  day  then  there  were  on  other  days;  so  that  we  got  an  oppor- 
tunity not  only  to  view  the  inmates,  but  the  visitors,  and  we  came 
away  unanimously  of  the  opinion  that  we  did  not  require  or  desire 
an  institution  of  that  character  in  our  neighborhood ;  and  we  believe, 
as  we  have  set  forth  in  our  statement  to  the  commissioners,  that  it 
will  result  in  a  material  reduction  in  values  in  that  section,  and  that 
in  the  course  of  a  few  years  the  loss  in  revenue  to  the  District  through 
the  depreciation  in  values  will  more  thtin  cover  the  cost  of  the  pro- 
posed group  of  buildings;  and  statements  have  been  made  by  some 
of  the  board  of  assistant  assessors  that  bear  out  these  facts.  As  to 
statements  contained  in  our  statement  before  the  board  of  com- 
missioners we  have  since  been  assured  by  people  informed  on  real 
estate  values  that  our  figures  are  very  conservative  indeed,  and  that 
the  revision  will  be  decidedly  upward. 

We  hope  that  the  committee  will  see  its  way  clear  to  sustain  the 
position  of  the  House  committee,  unless  they  are  prepared  to  offer 
another  site. 

(The  following  statements  were  submitted  by  Mr.  Suter:) 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  JESSE  C.  SUTER,  VICE  PRESIDENT  OP  THE  PETWORTH  CITIZENS* 
ASSOCIATION  AND  OFFICIAL  REPRESENTATIVE  ON  THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  ON  PROTEST 
AGAINST  THE  LOCATION  OF  MUNICIPAL  HOSPITAL  ON  PROPOSED  SITE. 

To  the  Senate  Committee  on  Appropriations, 

Subcommittee  on  the  District  of  Columbia: 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen:  There  has  been  much  disappointment  amor  g  the 
citizens  of  Petworth  that  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia  have  not 
modified  there  recommendations  to  Congress  so  as  to  provide  for  the  erection  of  the 
proposed  municipal  hospital  upon  a  site  other  than  the  one  between  Georgia  Avenue 
and  Fourteenth  Street  NW. 

Our  position  upon  this  matter  is  clearly  and  concisely  stated  in  the  argument  pre- 
sented by  our  representative  at  the  hearing  of  the  protestants  before  the  District  Com- 
missioners on  May  1  of  the  present  year,  of  which  a  printed  copy  is  herewith  sub- 
mitted. 

The  attendance  upon  this  hearing  was  too  great  for  the  capacity  of  the  board  room  at 
the  District  Building  and  consequently  many  were  turned  away,  being  unable  to  get 
standing  room.  Representatives  of  eight  citizens'  associations,  the  federations  of 
citizens'  associations,  chamber  of  commerce,  and  the  board  of  trade  all  vigorously 
opposed  the  use  of  tlie  proposed  site  and  urged  the  commissioners  to  modify  their 
recommendation  accordingly.  The  oommissioners  heard  us  most  courteously  and 
promised  to  give  the  matter  most  careful  consideration,  but  up  to  the  present  time  they 
have  failed  to  indicate  an>  change  of  position. 

We  most  earnestly  request  that  before  finally  determining  this  question  that-you  will, 
if  po.ssible,  make  a  personal  visit  both  to  the  Washington  Asylum  Hospital  site  and  the 
one  proposed.  In  this  connection  we  also  urge  that  you  study  the  ground  ulan  of  this 
proposed  group  of  buil;lii\gs.  Sudi  study  on  our  part  has  convinced  us  that  the 
proposed  site  is  wholly  i runic  |iuite.  In  our  opinion  such  an  institution  should  be 
located  in  the  center  of  a  larger  t  tact  and  not  be  in  such  close  proximity  to  the  adjacent 
streets  and  private  itroju'itv.  .\side  from  any  other  consideration,  we  regard  the 
inadeijuacy  of  the  site  a  good  and  sufficient  reason  for  another  location. 


DISTRICT   OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATION    BILL,  1017.  301 

We  would  like  to  see  the  present  session  of  Congress  make  some  provision  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  conditions  at  the  Washington  Asylum  Hospital,  but  we  have  never 
heard  any  weighty  reason  advanced  for  the  removal  of  the  institution  from  the  site  it 
has  occupied  for  the  past  70  years. 


ARGUJIEXT  OF  JESSE  C.  SUTER,  REPRESENTING  THE  PETWORTH  CITIZENS*  ASSOCIATION, 
BEFORE  THE  COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA,  MONDAY,  MAY  1,  1916. 

It  is  with  rehitance  that  we  assume  an  attitude  of  opposition  to  a  recommendation 
of  the  District  of  Columbia  Commissioners,  for  the  Petworth  (  itizens'  .Association 
usually  comes  in  a  spirit  of  cooperation.  It  is  really  in  such  spirit  we  are  here  to-day, 
for  we  believe  an  error  has  been  made,  and  we  wish  to  assist  the  commissioners  to 
rectify  it.  This,  we  belieAe,  you  should  be  all  the  more  v,illing  to  do,  especially  as 
it  is  an  inherited  error,  rather  than  one  of  your  ov.n  making. 

We  do  not  tliink  ourselves  presumptions  in  asking  that  you  recall  your  recommenda- 
tion to  Congress  by  substituting  a  more  practical  one  based  upon  a  broader  knowledge 
of  the  facts  involved. 

You  have  mingled  with  us  in  our  meetings  and  in\ited  our  counsel  and  coopera- 
tion, and  impressed  us  that  you  would  be  guided  largely  by  our  advice.  Here  is  an 
opportunity  to  rectify  an  error  wluch  will  only  grow  more  apparent  in  years  to  come. 
'\^'e  expect  more  from  the  present  board  than  we  would  from  some  of  your  predecessors, 
for  it  has  all  along  been  our  understanding  that  the  plain  citizen  was  now  to  have  his 
inning  rather  than  the  so-called  best  citizens. 

Petworth  is  not  opposed  to  the  erection  of  a  municipal  hospital,  but  we  are  most 
positively  opposed  to  such  use  of  the  site  in  our  neighborhood.  We  would  much 
prefer  expending  our  energy-  in  support  of  this  proposition  on  a  proper  site  than  to 
keep  up  this  opposition  in  a\  hich  we  haA-e  had  a  part  for  a  number  of  years.  That  we 
have  been  asleep  is  an  entirely  erroneous  impression.  We  claim  a  share  of  the  credit 
for  Congress  failing  to  sooner  authorize  the  use  of  this  proposed  site. 

We  believe  it  would  injure  our  section  most  seriously  to  have  an  institution  of  this 
character.  If  the  plans  are  carried  out  as  described  by  its  advocates,  the  new  insti- 
tution V  ill  be  far  more  extensive  and  objectionable  "than  the  present  one.  Some 
advocates  of  a  hospital  on  tliis  site  are  stirred  w  ith  great  sympathy  for  the  poor  unfor- 
tunates V,  ho  have  to  seek  refuge  in  tliis  institution,  but  have  Little  or  no  sympathy 
for  us  poor  unfortunates  who  have  simply  tried  to  be  decent  citizens  and  have  our 
little  all  invested  in  a  home  in  this  vicinity.  Surely  we  are  at  least  entitled  to  some 
little  consideration  anyway. 

The  presence  of  this  institution  would  render  our  neighborhood  less  desirable  as  a 
residence  section.  The  free  dispensary  and  day  patients  would  make  a  continuous 
coming  and  going  through  our  streets  and  very  close  contact  in  our  already  crowded 
street  cars  with  people  afflicted  with  all  sorts  of  loathsome  diseases.  You  know  what 
happens  in  a  neighborhood  when  some  objectionable  feature  is  added.  There  is  a 
rush  to  get  out,  even  at  a  sacrifice,  and  property  values  vanish.    ' 

The  coming  of  this  hospital  will  have  precisely  the  same  effect  on  property  values 
as  in  the  case  of  colored  people  coming  into  a  white  neighborhood.  We  have  had  a 
number  of  instances  of  this  kind  in  our  city. 

Of  course,  in  the  depreciation  of  our  values  we  will  be  the  first  sufferers,  but  as 
the  business  managers  of  this  District,  the  commissioners  also  are  interested  in  that 
phase  of  the  question.  Stripped  down  to  a  cold-blooded  business  proposition,  it  will 
be  bu-siness  folly  to  erect  the  hospital  upon  the  proposed  site. 

Property  A-alues  adjacent  to  reservation  13  are  very  low  compared  with  those  near 
the  proposed  site  in  fact  the  values  up  oiu'  way  are  from  five  to  ten  times  greater. 

Should  the  hospital  remain  in  its  present  location  there  would  be  no  reduction  in 
values,  for  any  damage  to  that  neighborhood  was  done  many  years  ago.  New  and 
attractive  buildings  and  beautified  grounds  on  the  present  site  on  reservation  13 
would  unquestionably  result  in  betterments  to  adjacent  property. 

We  estimate  that  approximately  §15,000,000  worth  of  property,  at  assessed  A'alue, 
would  be  affected  by  the  use  of  the  proposed  site.  We  believe  that  this  property 
would  average  a  depreciation  of  at  least  30  per  cent.  This  would  mean  a  loss  in  as- 
sessed value  "of  84,500,000,  or  in  taxes  §67,000  per  year.  In  five  years  this  loss  would 
aggregate  $335,000. 

This,  however,  would  not  be  all,  for  there  is  a  general  increase  each  year  that  would 
for  five  years  average  about  20  per  cent.  This  would  be  wiped  out,  in  addition  to  the 
depreciation,  and  in  five  years  mean  an  additional  lo.ss  to  the  District  in  taxes  of 
§185,000,  or  a  total  loss  of  §520,000,  or  more  than  it  is  proposed  to  spend  for  the  entire 
hospital  group. 


302  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

The  section  adjacent  to  the  present  location,  already  depreciated  to  the  point  where 
it  produce?  a  minimum  of  taxes,  would  recover  very  slowly,  and  because  of  many 
other  reasons  would  increase  in  no  way  in  comparison  to  the  decrease  of  values  in  our 
section. 

We  believe  this  is  a  conservative  statement  of  the  case  and  that  a  re\-ision  of  the 
figures  will  show  stronger  in  support  of  our  contentions. 

"Oiu-  section  does  not  furnish  the  inmates  of  this  hospital  and  therefore  it  is  not  a 
convenient  location. 

This  contested  site  can  be  held  for  some  future  suitable  use  or  sold  at  a  profit. 

We  earnestly  trust  that  we  may  depend  upon  you,  gentlemen,  to  doall  in  your  power 
to  prevent  the  perpetuation  of  this  great  error  of  judgment  of  yoiu-  predecessors  which 
has  been  greatly  emphasized  by  the  flight  of  the  16  years  since  this  ground  was  ac- 
quired. 

STATEMENT     OF    MR.     C.    J.    JAMES,     PRESIDENT     OF    THE 
PETWORTH  CITIZENS'  ASSOCIATION, 

Mr.  James.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  I  only  want  to  touch 
upon  this  subject  from  two  views. 

First,  a  number  of  years  ago  there  was  a  magnificent  ])lan  sub- 
mitted to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  known  as  the  ]\IcMillan 
plan,  to  further  beautify  Washington.  That  Mc^Millan  plan  took 
in  part  of  the  groimd  where  it  is  proposed  to  put  this  mmiicipal 
hospital.  If  it  is  placed  there,  it  will  stand  right  in  the  middle  of  the 
boulevard  that  goes  across  from  Rock  Creek  Park  and  continues  up 
through  Petworth  to  the  Soldiers'  Home  gate. 

The  second  is  this:  That  the  people  who  are  treated  at  the  hos- 
pital that  is  proposed  to  be  built  out  there  have  done  their  part  in 
life;  they  are  finished.  They  are  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  people 
of  their  country.  The  people  who  will  apph'  for  help  to  a  dispensary 
that  they  propose  to  put  out  there  \\t.11  be  travehng  up  and  down 
upon  the  cars  where  the  boys  and  girls  who  are  on  the  threshold  of 
life  will  come  in  contact  \\ath  them,  and  they  should  not  be  subjected 
to  any  such  danger  as  that. 

No  matter  how  beautiful  a  building  may  be,  if  it  houses  people 
like  that,  and  draws  tlii'ough  a  populous  section  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  people  of  that  character,  it  will  be  a  blot  and  an  eyesore 
on  the  District  of  Columbia. 

I  stand  for  an  appropriation  for  a  hospital.  I  stand  for  everything 
that  Congress  will  do  in  helping  people  of  this  character,  because  they 
are  beyond  helping  themselves;  but  in  providing  a  building  for  them, 
gentlemen,  do  not  put  it  in  a  part  of  the  city  where,  b}^  having  them 
in  it  or  going  to  it,  they  will  contaminate  and  bring  about  danger  to 
well  people. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Where  would  you  put  it  ? 

Mr.  James.  W^here  it  is  right  now.  Senator;  where  it  is  right  now, 
and  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  be  removed.  There  is  a  grave- 
yard on  one  side  of  that  tract,  there  is  a  river  on  the  other  side,  and 
there  are  no  residences  within  a  very  long  distance  of  where  the  hos- 
pital is  now. 

Senator  Gallinger.  But  there  will  be  residences. 

Mr.  James.  There  %vill  be.  But  values  do^^^l  there  are  fixed  by 
your  jail  and  your  hospital  as  it  is  now,  and  by  your  smallpox  hos- 
pital. Values  are  fixed,  and  why  take  it  away  from  there  and  put  it 
out  in  a  section  where  you  will  decrease  valuations  by  at  least  60  to 
70  per  cent,  and  the  assessments  will  be  lowered  in  proportion. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1017.  303 

Senator  Gallixger.  How  much  docrcase  has  there  been  because 
of  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital?     I  have  not  heard  of  any,  have  you? 

Mr.  James.  I  ^vill  answer  that  by  saying  that  if  tlie  Tuberciilosis 
Hospital  had  not  been  there,  the  property  would  have  l)rought  more 
money,  and  there  woidd  have  been  a  higher  valuation  placed  upon  it. 
I  am  deadly  afraid  of  tuberculosis,  and  it  is  the  only  thing  that  I  am 
afraid  of,  and  I  hatl  occasion  to  say  before  the  Commissioners  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  that  we  were  not  only  unanimously  opposed  to 
the  location  of  the  municipal  hospital  over  th(n-e,  but  we  were  going 
to  try  by  every  means  in  our  power  to  have  that  hospital  put  away 
from  where  it  is  now.  It  should  not  b?  witliin  the  city  hmits.  It 
should  be  put  out  where  those  people  would  have  more  ground  and 
better  chances  for  getting  wo41. 

Senator  Dillingham.  You  refer  to  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital? 

;Mi".  James.  I  am  talking  now  about  the  Tuberculosis  Hospital. 
That  was  brought  in  by  Senator  Gallinger. 

Senator  Gallixger.  In  other  words,  j^ou  would  put  it  in  Virginia 
or  Marjdand,  would  you  ? 

Mr.  James.  I  think  it  would  be  perfectly  safe  out  there,  if  they  had 
a  large  enough  tract — say  of  100  acres.  That  is  what  should  be  done, 
and  put  these  people  where  they  will  be  segregated.  You  know  that 
some  symptoms  of  tuberculosis  are  communicable.  We  have  just 
had  a  hearing  before  the  commissioners  this  morning  on  promulgating 
regulations  to  stop  children  from  goirg  to  school  who  have  certain 
kinds  of  tuberculosis,  and  stopping  men  from  cooking  and  making 
candies,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  who  have  tuberculosis;  but  tuber- 
culosis is  a  mild  and  pleasant  thing  compared  to  some  of  the  diseases 
that  afflict  people  who  would  come  to  a  dispensary  that  would  be 
placed  out  on  that  car  line. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Where  would  the  people  come  from  who  would 
patronize  a  dispensary  of  that  kind  ? 

Mr.  James.  Principally  from  down  town.  That  territory  out  there 
is  a  health  resort.  People  seldom  die  out  there.  Sometimes  we  are 
sick.     I  have  been  living  there  seven  years. 

Senator  Gallixger.  And  you  have  not  died  ? 

Mr.  James.  I  am  a  product  of  Maryland.  I  was  born  on  the  East- 
ern Shore. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  That  is  where  you  got  your  start. 

Mr.  James.  But  it  is  more  important  where  we  finish,  Senator,  than 
where  wo  start,  and  I  hope  that  the  finish  of  this  thing  will  be  that 
you  will  not  put  this  hospital  out  there.     Thank  you. 

Mr.  Simpsox.  Mr.  Chaimian,  I  will  merely  introduce  Mr.  Shrove, 
who  will  be  spokesman  for  us. 

IMPROVEMEXT    OF    SEVEXTII    STREET,  R    STREET    TO    FLORIDA    AVENUE. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  CHARLES  SHREVE. 

The  Chairmax.  "WTiom  do  you  represent  ? 

Mr.  Shreve.  I  represent  a  special  committee  appointed  by  the 
Mid-City  Citizens'  Association  to  take  up  the  matter  of  an  appropria- 
tion of  §15,000,  which  was  not  put  in  the  appropriation  bill  by  tho 
House  committee,  and  bring  the  matter  before  the  attention  of  this 
committee. 


304  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATION    BILL,  1C17. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Was  this  matter  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  District  of  Columbia  Commissioners? 

Mr.  Shreve.  I  was  just  about  to  make  that  statement  to  this  com- 
mittee. Just  before  the  District  Committee  was  to  take  this  matter 
under  consideration  from  the  House,  our  president  of  our  association, 
Mr.  Driscoll,  addressed  a  letter  to  tlie  District  Committee.  We  received 
a  reply  to  that  letter  from  Representative  Page. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  That  is  not  necessary.  It  was  esti- 
mated for  by  the  commissioners. 

Mr.  Shreve.  By  the  commissioners. 

Senator  wSmith  of  Maryland.  That  was  the  question  that  I  asked. 
It  has  been  estimated  for  by  the  commissioners,  and  not  included  in 
the  House  bill  i 

Mr.  Shreve.  Not  included  in  the  House  bill;  and  I  simply  wish  to 
state  that  the  reason  we  did  not  appear  before  the  House  committee 
was  that  we  received  this  letter  from  Representative  Page,  stating 
that  the  House  committee  did  not  care  to  hear  us,  as  they  had  gone 
fully  into  the  matter;  and  therefore  we  have  no  discourtesy  to  that 
committee  for  not  appearing  there. 

Senator  Gallixger.  This  was  for  the  completion  of  the  work  we 
provided  for  last  j^ear? 

Mr.  Shreve.  Last  jenr  and  jenr  before;  finished  last  year.  This 
street  that  is  now  unfinished  extends  from  R  Street  to  Florida 
Avenue,  almost  three  squares,  two  good-sized  squares  and  one  short 
square.  It  is  needless  to  state  the  importance  of  Seventh  Street  to 
you  gentlemen,  especially  to  Senator  Smith,  because  we  all  know  that 
Brightwood  extends  far  out  into  the  State  of  Maryland  and  has  for  40 
years  been  one  of  our  most  important  thoroughfares. 

For  some  unaccountable  reason,  although  Congress  has  done  what 
it  could,  Seventh  Street  has  been  repaired  on  the  patch  plan.  They 
started  in  repairing  from  D  Street  up  to  G  Street  in  1898,  and  then  on 
in  1904  at  various  intervals  until  last  year,  until  it  is  now  completed 
up  to  Seventh  and  R  Streets  NW.  Last  year,  also,  Florida  Avenue, 
between  Seventh  and  Ninth  Streets,  was  graded.  The  commissioners 
have  also  extended  a  splendid  lighting  S3"stem  for  Seventh  Street,  and 
the  only  thing  that  is  now  needed  to  complete  that  thoroughfare  from 
Pennsylvania  Avenue  to  Florida  Avenue  is  the  paving  of  these  three 
squares,  or  rather,  you  might  say,  two  squares  and  a  half,  and  tlie 
street  is  in  a  deplorable  conclition,  doubtless  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
commissioners  expected  that  it  would  be  repaved  with  concrete  and 
did  not  wish  to  waste  any  money  in  repairs  w^ith  the  present  granite 
blocks.  These  blocks  have  been  there  on  one-half  of  the  street  since 
1887  and  on  the  other  half  of  tlie  street  since  1882,  a  period  of  about 
34  years.  Grass  is  growing  up  in  many  places,  the  pavement  has 
sunken  far  below  the  curb  in  many  places,  water  collects  there  during 
rain  storms,  and  the  street  is  really  in  an  extremely  unhealthy  con- 
ditions. 

The  appropriation  asked  for,  of  SI 5,000,  is  small  for  the  grecat  good 
that  will  be  brought  to  these  merchants  along  that  street.  I  am 
located  on  that  street,  and  almost  every  member  of  our  committee 
is  a  business  man  on  that  street.  In  fact,  a  majority  of  our  asso- 
ciation are  merchants  along  Seventh  Street,  and  we  feel  the  great 
importance  of  this  street  to  our  business,  as  well  as  the  importance 
of  it  as  a  thoroughfare.     We  know  that  if  that  street  is  improved, 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  305 

with  the  splondid  lighting  system  we  now  have,  we  will  get  a  majority 
of  the  traffie  coming  down  Brightwood  Avenue  and  Florida  Avenue, 
which  is  now  diverted  to  Ninth  Street  and  Sixth  Street. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the 
people  living  on  that  street  will  be  the  only  ones  to  be  benefited  ? 

Mr.  Shreve.  No.  sir;  bat  we  are  the  only  ones  who  are  appearing 
here. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  would  not  do  very  well  to  say  that 
you  would  be  the  only  beneficiaries. 

Mr.  Shreve.  Absolutely  not,  because  we  are  not  the  only  bene- 
ficiaries. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Would  a  large  number  of  people  out- 
side of  those  on  that  street  benefit  from  the  use  of  it  ? 

Mr.  Shreve.  Absolutely.  All  the  market  men  coming  down  from 
the  State  of  Maryland  to  Center  ^Market  would  use  this  as  a  thor- 
oughfare, as  they  did  for  20  to  25  years,  to  my  knowledge,  w^hen  the 
other  streets  were  not  in  condition.  Of  course  when  those  streets 
are  improved  that  diverts  traffic,  and  those  people  have  to  go  out  of 
the  way  now  to  get  down  to  the  market,  whereas  if  Seventh  Street 
was  improved  they  could  go  in  a  direct  line. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  They  have  to  go  a  longer  distance? 

Mr.  Shreve.  They  have  to  go  a  longer  distance  now  to  Center 
Market;  and  with  the  heavy  teams,  it  is  not  onh'  the  distance  but 
the  heavy  traffic  that  tells. 

HALF-AXD-HALF  PRINCIPLE AGAIN. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  EVAN  H.  TUCKER. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  do  you  represent  ? 

Mr.  Tucker.  I  am  president  of  the  Northeast  Citizens'  Association. 
Mr.  Chairman,  first  I  must  say  one  or  two  words  about  the  half-and- 
half  provisions  in  this  bill,  and  I  want  to  say  that  our  association  has 
unanimously  opposed  the  provision  of  this  bill  that  wiU  abrogate 
the  half-and-half  principle,  which  we  think  has  worked  so  well  for 
the  last  38  years;  and  the  only  reason  we  can  see  for  the  abrogation 
of  it  now  is  that  there  is  a  little  balance  in  our  treasury,  which  is 
due,  we  think,  to  the  parsmionious  methods  of  Congress  in  not  appro- 
priating as  much  as  it  should  have  for  improvements,  and  placing 
upon  us  some  extra  assessments  which  should  not  have  been  placed 
upon  us,  such  as  the  Borland  amendment  would  effect.  I  will  not 
say  anything  further  on  that.  I  just  wanted  to  put  our  association 
straight  in  regard  to  it. 

PATTERSON  TRACT. 

We  are  coming  before  you  in  favor  of  the  estimate  of  the  com- 
missioners for  the  purchase  of  the  Patterson  tract,  and  I  have  here 
a  map  which  will  show  you  the  situation,  I  think.  [Producing  map.] 
The  northeast  section  of  the  city  is  the  most  poorly  provided  in 
regard  to  parks.  The  only  parks  we  have  are  in  the  same  square 
with  an  area  of  3  acres,  and  a  portion  of  Lincoln  Park  witli  an  area 
of  3  acres,  and  this  Patterson  tract  has  been  our  recreation  ground 
for  the  last  25  years. 
45737—16 20 


306  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Gallixger.  How  many  acres  are  thei'e  in  that  tract  I 

Mr.  Tucker.  Eight3'-one  acres.  You  can  go  there  almobt  any 
evening  and  find  three  or  four  games  of  baseball  going  on  at  onco. 
It  is  the  drill  grounds  of  the  High  School  Cadets.  What  we  fear  is 
that  that  ground  will  be  sold  off  for  speculative  purposes,  and  what 
we  fear  is  that  we  will  be  deprived  of  the  park  we  have.  We  are 
using  it  now  by  the  courtesy  of  those  in  charge  of  the  Patterson 
estate. 

On  this  map  I  have  marked  in  green  tlie  two  parks  we  have,  and 
also  in  green  some  of  the  parks  in  other  sections  of  the  city,  and  I 
have  marked  in  red  the  two  parks  proposed  by  the  commissioners' 
estimates,  the  Patterson  tract  and  the  Dean  tract.  In  regard  to 
that  proposition  I  want  to  state  this:  The  northeast  section  has  a 
population  of  65,000  people.  They  are  people  who  are  poor,  mostly, 
people  who  own  their  homes,  or  are  trying  to  buy  them  on  the  in- 
stallment plan,  and  they  are  the  kmd  of  people  who  are  not  able  to 
go  away  from  home  and  spend  their  summers,  or  to  send  their  children 
away  to  spend  their  summers.  They  have  to  stay  right  there. 
Moreover,  they  are  the  kind  of  people  who  are  hardly  able  to  pay  for 
the  conveyance  of  their  children  to  Potomac  Part:  for  recreation. 
They  own  no  automobiles.  These  are  the  people  we  are  trying  to 
provide  a  recreation  ground  for.  This  proposition  has  been  before 
you  several  times.  I  came  before  you  several  years  ago  and  recom- 
mended it,  and  I  guess  I  made  most  of  the  arguments.  But  two  yeai-s 
ago,  when  this  matter  was  brought  up,  the  commissioners  made  an 
exhaustive  study  of  the  park  question,  and  they  decided  this  was  the 
most  important  park  project  before  them,  and  at  that  time  they 
recommended  the  purchase  of  that  one  park  and  no  otlier  for  that 
reason.  This  is  one  of  the  ch-iin  of  parks  that  was  recommended  by 
the  park  commission.  They  saw  the  necessity  for  a  park  ai;  this 
place.     . 

The  price  that  that  park  can  be  purchased  for  is  small.  We 
believe,  and  the  commissioners  believe,  that  it  can  be  purchased  for 
500,000,  which  would  be  at  the  rate  of  S6,173  per  acre.  This 
Smount  compared  with  the  price  paid  for  the  Meridian  Hill  Park  is 
only  a  bagatelle.  The  Meridian  Hill  Park  is  10  acres  in  extent,  and 
it  cost  S49,000  per  acre. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  is  bought. 

Mr.  Tucker.  Yes;  that  is  bought.  And  now  they  are  spending 
large  sums  of  money  for  building  expensive  walls  about  it.  That  is 
only  by  way  of  com.parison.  This  is  a  section,  in  the  northeast,  that 
not  a  dollar  has  ever  been  expended  on  for  the  purcliase  of  a  park. 

easterx  high  school. 

The  next  ciuestion  that  I  was  reciuested  by  the  association  to 
bring  up  is  the  question  of  the  appropriation  for  the  new  Eastern 
High  School.  You  remember  that  I  came  before  you  two  years  ago 
and  made  an  argument  for  the  })urchase  of  the  site,  and  you  pro- 
vided for  that  site  and  it  has  been  purchased.  We  appeal  for  a 
building.  We  need  the  building  very  badly.  We  have  a  school 
there  at  which  496  pupils  attended  tiiis  year,  and  the  building  was 
built   for   400  ])upils.     We  have  over   1.500   pupils  attending   high 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  307 

schools  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  so  that  yo-u  see  we  are  only  pro- 
viding for  less  than  one-third  of  the  pupils  in  our  own  section!  We 
need  that  school  now.  We  do  not  need  it  10  years  hence.  We  want 
it  now. 

Although  the  commissioners  asked  for  $200,000  for  this  })ULlding, 
the  House  only  provided  that  S40,000  which  was  left  over  from  the 
purchase  of  the  land.  We  recjuest  that  this  bill  be  amended  by 
adding  to  it  the  $200,000  that  the  commissioners  recommended, 
and  restoring  the  total  cost  of  the  building,  which  is  $750,000.  The 
House  cut  it  down  to  $700,000.  We  want  that  extra  $50,000.  That 
is  for  the  building  and  equipment.  Those  are  the  recommendations 
m  regard  to  the  high  school. 

XEW    Bt'ILDIXG,  SIXTH    SCHOOL    DIVISIOX. 

We  are  very  much  in  need  of  a  new  school  building  in  the  sixth 
School  Division.  I  called  your  attention  to  that  two  years  ago,  but 
we  were  unable  to  secure  the  appropriation  at  that  time  because  you 
had  so  many  school  projects  before  you. 

Senator  Cltitis.  Is  that  recommended  this  year? 

Mr.  Tucker.  That  is  recommended  by  the  Board  of  Education, 
but  by  some  oversight  the  commissioners  failed  to  place  it  in  the 
estimates. 

Senator  Cltrtis.  It  is  not  recommended  by  the  Commissioners? 

Mr.  Tucker.  No;  but  I  understand  that  they  are  ready  to  sustain 
this  proposition,  and  I  have  here  a  report  of  our  association  which 
shows  that  we  have  actually  had  to  put  third-grade  pupils  on  the 
half-day  basis,  owing  to  the  fact  that  we  can  not  provide  accommo- 
dations for  them. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Where  is  that? 

Mr.  Tucker.  It  is  the  Blair  building. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  mean  where  is  the  new  building? 

Mr.  Tltcker.  It  was  proposed  by  the  board  of  education  that  we 
should  enlarge  the  Blair  building  by  adding  eight  rooms  to  it. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  not  that  recommended  by  the 
commissioners  ? 

Mr.  Tucker.  No,  sir;  they  overlooked  it.  They  told  us  afterwards 
they  would  be  glad  to  give  a  recommendation.  Here  is  the  report  I 
wnll  submit. 

The  Chairmax.  That  may  go  in  the  record. 

(The  report  referred  to  by  Mr.  Tucker  is  here  inserted  in  the  record, 
as  foUows:) 

Washington,  D.  C,  March  IS,  1916. 
To  the  Northeast  Citizens'  Associatioyi: 

As  chairman  of  the  committee  on  schools,  I  desire  to  present  the  urgent  need  for  an 
additional  school  building  in  the  northeast  section,  wMch  has  had  no  new  school 
for  12  years.  Owing  to  the  large  increase  of  population,  every  schoolroom  is  occupied 
by  one  or  two  schools.  The  number  of  pupils  in  the  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh  grades — 
46  and  47 — are  entirely  too  many  for  one  teacher.  Some  of  the  lower  grades  have 
even  more. 

The  Wheatley  School  has  two  portables,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  semester 
two  third  grades  had  to  be  placed  in  one  room  on  the  half-day  basis.  To  accommo- 
date the  smaller  children  at  the  Hayes  and  Blair  Schools,  a  fifth  grade  had  to  be  moved 
from  the  Blair  to  the  Taylor,  leaving  no  room  at  the  Taylor  for  the  first  and  second 
grades. 


308  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

The  sixth  division  needs  special  classes — an  ungraded  class,  a  coaching  class,  and  a 
vocational  class.  None  of  these  classes  are  possible  on  account  of  the  lack  of  rooms 
in  wliich  to  hold  them.     The  lack  of  facilities  for  carpenter  work  is  manifest. 

\^'hat  is  needed  is  a  modern  16-room  building,  containing  an  assembly  hall,  gym- 
nasium, with  bathing  accommodations;  also  a  playground. 

Should  a  separate  new  building  in  the  opinion  of  the  commissioners  be  not  obtain- 
able, then  an  addition  of  eight  rooms  to  the  Blair  School  is  recommended. 

Dr.  Starr  Parsons,  Chairman. 

Unanimouslv  adopted  by  the  Northeast  Citizens'  Association  in  meeting  assembled, 
the  13th  day  of  March,  19i6. 

Evan  H.  Tucker,  President. 
RoscoE  Jenkins,  Secretary. 

The  points  in  that  are  that  we  are  nsin^  three  portable  buildings, 
and  that  we  have  to  accommodate  the  third  grades  in  half  these 
schools.  I  believe  it  is  the  only  section  of  the  city  where  that  is 
done.  Although  our  section  has  of  course  more  population  than  any 
other  section  of  the  city,  there  has  not  been  a  new  graded  school 
built  there  for  12  years. 

ASSESSMENT    FOR    STREET    PAVING — AGAIN. 

Now,  I  want  to  call  the  attention  of  the  committee  to  some  things 
that  are  placed  in  this  biU  that  we  do  not  think  are  exactly  right. 
There  is  a  proposition  here  to  amend  the  Borland  amendment  so  as 
to  make  it  further  drastic  upon  us,  and  we  are  opposed  to  that. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  has  been  discussed  b}^  two  or  three 
others. 

Mr.  TucRer.  We  are  opposed  to  adding  to  that  macadam  roadway. 
Macadam  roadways  go  past  the  poor  peoples'  homes,  and  we  think 
there  is  no  necessity  for  that. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  would  apply  very  largely  to  that  section 
of  the  city  ? 

Mr.  Tucker.  Very  largely.  More  than  that,  I  do  not  think  that 
the  commissioners  ought  to  put  that  provision  in  there  exempting 
them  from  advertising  these  improvements.  If  they  arc  going  to 
spend  a  lot  of  money  in  front  of  our  homes,  we  ought  to  know  it.  and 
the  provision  for  advertisement  should  be  retained  in  the  law.  This 
provision  would   exempt    them  from   that   advertisement. 

DISTRICT   storehouse    IN    SQUARE   857. 

There  is  another  provision  in  here  which  is  new  legislation,  that 
we  will  have  to  oppose,  and  that  is  on  page  38  of  the  bill.  They 
propose  to  build  a  storehouse  on  square  857.  That  land  going 
through  there  is  the  right  of  way  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railw  y, 
acquired  at  the  time  the  railroad  act  passed  by  the  United  States 
Government  for  the  purposes  of  a  street  or  avenue,  and  our  association 
has  been  trying  for  years  to  have  that  opened  up,  and  now  the  com- 
missioners are  trying  to  have  a  building  l)uilt  tiicrc  and  use  the  other 
part  for  a  storage  yard.  We  hope  that  the  committee  will  consider 
It  carefully  before  they  do  that.  We  have  a  long  square  there,  and 
this  will  close  the  rear  entrance  to  everybody  building  a  house  there. 
Senator  Curtis.  They  are  using  it  now  for  storage  ^ 
Mr.  Tucker.  Yes,  they  are  using  it  now  for  storage.  It  is  very 
objectionable  to  the  people  tJiere.     That  is  built  up  on  aU  sides  by 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  lOlT,  309 

residential  property,  and  riajlit  in  the  midtlle  of  it  are  these  objection- 
able conditions:  and  we  think  those  ])e()ple,  although  the}^  are  not 
wealthy  people,  are  entitled  to  some  consideration  in  the  matter. 
We  hope  you  will  not  approve  that  recommendation.  On  page  38  of 
the  bill  is  the  item  for  storehouses. 

MUNICIPAL    HOSPITAL — AGAIN. 

I  want  to  add  one  more  word  in  opposition  to  the  proposition  that 
the  new  hospital  should  be  located  on  Reservation  No.  13.  It  has 
been  stated  by  Dr.  Emmons  and  others  that  there  are  three  objec- 
tionable institutions  on  Reservation  No.  13.  There  are  more  than 
that.  We  have  been  trying  for  years  and  years  to  get  rid  of  those 
institutions,  and  they  are  the  really  objectionable  institutions,  more 
so  than  a  hospital.  The  hospital  we  would  not  object  to  so  much, 
but  we  have  the  crematorium  there  and  we  have  the  fumigation  plant 
for  the  contagious  diseases,  and  we  have  the  smallpox  hospital  there, 
and  the  leper  camp  there,  and  the  jail.  All  of  those  things  are  very 
objectionable  to  us,  and  there  is  no  way  in  the  world  we  can  build  up 
that  section  of  the  city  while  those  objectionable  institutions  are  there; 
and  what  we  are  afraid  of  is  that  if  this  new  hospital  is  put  there  it 
will  tend  to  perpetuate  the  use  of  that  land  for  those  purposes.  We 
will  have  a  very  hard  time  clearing  that  reservation,  which  was 
intended  for  a  park,  from  those  objectionable  institutions;  and  it  was 
well  said  here,  our  Eastern  High  School  is  going  up  there  with  1,500 
young  ladies  and  young  men,  and  those  institutions  will  be  very 
objectionable  to  those  people. 

Gentlemen,  I  thank  you  for  this  hearing. 

PURCHASE    OF    PLAYGROUND    FOR    ECKINGTON    SCHOOL. 

STATEMENT  OF  REV.  CHARLES  E.  FULTZ. 

Mr.  FuLTZ.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  the  folks  of  my  com- 
munity have  asked  me  to  come  down  here  and  speak  to  you  with 
reference  to  a  little  parcel  of  ground  that  should  be  purchased,  adja- 
cent to  the  Eckington  School,  for  play  purposes.  They  have  not 
anything  there  at  this  time,  and  there  has  been  an  effort  made,  I  do 
not  know  before  whom,  but  they  just  asked  me  to  come  here  and  ask 
you  gentlemen  to  look  after  that  for  them. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  has  been  estimated  for? 

Mr.  Fultz.  Yes;  I  understand  it  has. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  was  estimated  for  by  the  District 
of  Columbia  Commissioners  but  left  out  by  the  House  ? 

Mr.  FuLTZ.  Left  out  by  the  House;  yes,  sir.  They  asked  me 
simply  to  come  here  and  ask  you  gentlemen  to  take  care  of  those 
children  by  appropriating  for  those  few  extra  feet  of  ground.  They 
do  not  have  anything.  They  must  play  on  the  street  and  on  the 
alley.  There  is  not  a  foot  of  ground  there  for  them  to  play  on  outside 
of  the  few  feet  around  the  ])uil(Hii^. 

Senator  wSmitii  of  Maryland.  Forty-five  thousand  dollars  is  the 
amount  you  ask  ? 

Mr.  Fultz.  Yes,  sir;  I  think  it  is. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  much  property  will  that  buy  ? 


310  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPi;OPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Mr.  Fl'ltz.  I  can  not  give  you  the  exact  estimate. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  do  not  know  the  size  of  the 
piece  of  ground  ? 

Mr.  FfLTZ.  No.  sir.  They  just  asked  me  to  come  down  and  ask 
you  gentlemen  to  do  that.  They  just  asked  me  to  come  down  and 
ask  you  to  take  care  of  those  dear  little  fellows.  Thank  you,  gentle- 
men. 

RHODE    ISLAND    AVENUE    SCHOOL — AGAIN. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  WILLIAM  S.  TORBEET. 

Mr.  ToRBERT.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  I  am  here  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Rhode  Island  Avenue  Citizens"  Association,  as 
chaimian  of  the  committee  on  schools.  There  is  quite  a  delegation 
here  of  members  of  the  association  to  back  me  up  and  see  that  I 
make  this  presentation  properly. 

I  think  I  can  not  do  better,  gentlemen,  than  to  read  a  few  statistics 
to  you  relative  to  the  absolute  need  of  a  new  school  building  in  this 
district. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Is  this  the  school  concerning  which  there  is 
a  controversy,  that  ^Ii\  Nigh  is  interested  in,  he  being  opposed  to  the 
views  that  you  will  present  here  ? 

Mr.  ToRBERT.  There  has  been  some  opposition,  I  believe,  Senator, 
on  the  part  of  Mr.  Nigh. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Do  not  let  that  disturb  you — that  inquiry. 
I  just  wanted  to  get  that  in  the  record. 

Mr.  ToRBERT.  Now,  may  I  proceed  with  the  reading  of  this  ? 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Mr.  ToRBERT.  A  report  has  been  prepared  embodying  the  statis- 
tics, which  wiU  show,  I  think,  the  absolute  need  of  the  additional 
school  facilities  in  the  fifth  division. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Go  ahead,  sir,  and  let  us  hear  you. 

Mr.  ToRBERT.  In  1913  Congress  made  an  appropriation  of  812,000 
for  the  pm'chase  of  a  site  for  a  schoolhouse  in  the  lifth  division. 
After  a  view  of  the  sites  possibly  available,  the  commission- 
ers of  the  District  of  Columbia  purchased  one  containing  some 
5^  acres  lying  between  Eighteenth  and  Twentieth,  Monroe  and 
Newton  Streets  XE.  The  purchase  of  this  site  was  made  by  the 
commissioners  in  the  exercise  of  their  judgment  and  on  the  rec- 
ommendation of  the  board  of  education  and  the  local  citizens' 
association.  Tlie  laro;e  area  secured  for  the  available  appropriation 
was  deemed  admirably  adapted  for  inaugurating  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  the  latest  ideas  in  public  educational  facilities.  Tlie  site 
has  remained  unimproved  up  to  the  present  day,  although  the  im- 
perative need  for  additional  school  facilities  has  been  patent  for 
several  years.  This  need  has  now  become  one  of  crying  urgency  in 
view  of  the  conditions  in  the  Langdon  School  and  the  rapid  and 
continuous  growth  of  the  section.  In  the  extensive  territory  em- 
braced within  the  bounds  of  Fourth  Street  NE.  on  the  west, 
Thirt3'-sixth  Street  on  the  east,  Bunker  HiU  Road  and  Michigan 
Avenue  on  the  north,  and  the  Eastern  Branch  of  the  Potomac  River 
on  the  south,  there  are  but  two  school  buildings  available  for  white 
children.  Tlie  Langdon  School  is  located  at  Twentieth  and  Franklin 
Streets  NE.;  the  Brookland  School  at  Tenth  and  Monroe  Streets  NE. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  I'Ml.  311 

Tnerc  is  a  larsje  and  well  populated  torritDry  between  and  contiguous 
to  these  buiklings,  and  for  it  the  site  purchased,  lying  l)etween 
Eighteenth  and  Twentieth,  Monri^e  and  Newton  Streets,  was  con- 
sidered by  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  board 
of  education,  and  the  Rhode  Island  Avenue  Suburban  Citizens' 
Association  a  central  one  and  of  greatest  availability  otherwise. 
Besides,  it  was  acquired  at  the  moderate  figure  of  approximately 
5  cents  per  square  foot,  a  valuation  which  could  not  be  duplicated, 
and  which  was  made  possible  only  because  the  pro]ierty  was  unde- 
veh^ped  and  unproductively  employed  as  agricultural  bind. 

I  will  say  now  that  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  foot  of  ground  aiiy- 
where  around  that  which  could  be  jnu'chased  for  less  than  10  or  15 
cents.  The  site  afforded  an  opportunity  not  only  to  relieve  the 
deploralily  congested  condition  of  the  Langdon  aid  Brooldand 
schools,  but  its  size  was  appealing  as  affordii^g  an  opportunity  to 
put  into  practice  in  the  District  of  Columbia  accepted  ideas  of  edu- 
cators throughout  the  country  that  school  buildings  should  have  sur- 
rouadings  ample  for  atheletics  Puicl  primary  instruction  in  agricul- 
ture, floriculture,  etc.  It  was  hoped  that  Congress,  in  its  wisdom, 
would  see  the  possibilities  afforded  for  making  this  r.ew  buildirg  in 
the  capital  of  the  Nation  a  model  for  education.al  development 
throughout  the  country. 

The  board  of  education,  appreciative  of  the  crying  need,  recom- 
mended an  appropriation  for  an  eight-room  building  on  this  site, 
and  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia  incorporated  in 
their  estimates  submitted  to  the  Congress  during  its  present  session 
an  item  of  $90,000  for  the  purpose.  This  action  was  based  upon  a 
knowledge  of  conditions,  illustrated  by  the  following  data: 

In  December,  1915,  the  Rhode  Island  Avenue  Suburban  Citizens' 
Association,  through  its  committee  on  schools,  took  a  school  census 
of  the  territory  to  be  served  by  the  proposed  new  building.  The 
territory  covered  was  exclusive  of  that  from  Avhich,  under  normal 
conditions,  the  Brookland  or  other  buildings  would  draw.  The  data 
thus  obtained  has  been  compiled  as  follows: 

Xumljer  of  children  of  primary-school  age,  i.  e.,  under  high- school  age 622 

Number  of  children  under  school  age,  but  for  whom  provision  shortly  will  have 

to  be  made 295 

Xumber  of  children  attending  Langdon  School  but  residing  outside  of  territory 

fovered 46 

Number  of  children  from  outside  of  District  entitled  to  attend  school  in  locality. 

but  who  are  attending  schools  in  various  other  parts  of  the  District,  estimated 

at  more  than 100 

Number  of  children  in  60  unoccupied  dwellings  reported  in  December.  1915. 

principally  dwellings  in  course  of  construction,  estimated  two  to  a  dwelling. .       120 

Total 1 , 1 83 

Since  the  above  census  was  taken  and  -wathin  the  past  two  weeks 
an  enumeration  of  building  houses  within  the  territory  has  been  made, 
the  number  reported  being  1,071.  On  the  basis  of  an  average  of  two 
children  to  each  building,  which  is  considered  a  conservative  one, 
the  number  of  school  chiklren  at  this  time  would  be  2,142. 

There  is  quite  a  discrepancy  there  between  the  actual  number  and 
the  estimated  number. 

The  apparent  discrepancy  of  over  a  thousand  between  actual  count 
in  December,  1915,  and  the  estimate  based  on  recent  house  census  is 
easily  accounted  for  by  the  rapid  growth  of  the  locality  through  the 
erection  of  new  dwellinofs  which  were  not  witliin  the  riurview  of  the 


312  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATION    BILL^  1917. 

census  takers  at  the  time  mentioned,  it  being  a  matter  of  common 
knowledge  that  the  greatest  activity  in  the  improvement  of  suburban 
real  estate  is  in  the  spring  of  the  year. 

The  Langdon  School  is  a  10-room  building  with  a  normal  capacity 
of  400  pupils.  It  might  be  well  to  state  here  that  this  building  is  a 
frame  structure,  a  veritable  fire-trap,  and  without  modern  facilities 
and  equipment. 

It  is  a  10-room  building,  and  the  normal  capacity  of  a  schoolroom 
is  40.  The  building  is  a  frame  structure,  and  has  no  fire  protection 
and  no  modern  conveniences  or  facilities.  There  is  no  light  in  the 
building,  and  only  recently  has  water  and  sewer  been  installed. 

With  an  actualschool  population  1,183  in  December,  1915,  as  bown 
above,  and  a  possible  school  population,  based  on  the  number  of 
dwellings  of  2,142,  the  sum  total  of  present  accommodation  is  a  10- 
room  building  wilh  a  normal  capacity  of  400.  The  astounding  fact 
thus  appears  that  in  the  territory  there  are  from  783  to  1,742  school 
children,  according  to  basis  of  estimate,  who  are  without  school  facili- 
ties within  the  neighborhood  of  their  homes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Have  you  not  any  portable  schools 
there  ? 

Mr.  Tor  BERT.  No,  sir;  we  have  never  been  able  to  get  one. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  children  residing  within  a  comparatively  short 
distance  of  the  Landgon  School  and  entitled  to  attend  there  are  com- 
pelled to  go  elsewhere;  and  children  of  parents  residing  in  I'ri-io' 
Georges  County,  Md.,  but  employed  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and 
who  under  the  "law  are  entitled  to  attend  the  schools  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  are  compelled  to  travel  long  distances,  with  the  incidental 
expense  of  car  fare,  in  order  to  find  accommodation  in  school  buildings 
in  the  city  of  Washington,  although  the  proposed  new  building  would 
be  their  logical  de^thiation. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Where  is  that  densely  populated  part 
of  Prince  Georges  County?  As  I  understand,  these  are  m.ostly 
children  of  employees  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Mr.  ToRBERT.  I  think,  under  the  law,  anyone  employed  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  has  the  privilege  of  sending  his  children  to  the 
District  schools,  and  this  proposed  new  school  building  would  be  the 
logical  destination  of  those  children. 

The  situation,  then,  is  this:  Through  an  appropriation  of  Congress, 
made  some  three  years  ago,  in  appreciation  of  patent  conditions,  a 
school  site  of  some  five  and  a  half  acres  has  been  acquired  at  a  cost  of 
$12,000.  This  site  at  present  is  of  no  practical  use — is  an  investment 
on  the  part  of  the  Government  which  is  returning  nothing.  That  it 
should  be  making  returns  in  the  way  of  scientific  and  practical  edu- 
cation of  the  youth  of  the  District  and  others  entitled  under  the  law 
to  the  use  of  the  educational  advantages  of  the  National  Capital 
would  seem  but  logical.  Compulsory  education,  it  is  subn.itted. 
entails  upon  those  whose  wisdom  deemed  it  necessary  to  the  public 
welfare  the  duty  of  providing  the  means  whereby  the  law  of  Congress 
may  be  made  effective,  without  undue  hardship  to  the  people  afi'ected. 

An  appropriation  for  this  new  building  has  been  asked  by  the 
Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  by  the  board  of 
education  thereof.  The  amount  asked  by  the  commissioners  is 
$90,000,  tlie  intention  being  to  provide  for  the  construction  of  an 
8-room  building,  but  having  in  view  its  enlargement  in  the  future 
to  a  16-room  building. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  313 

To  reiterate:  The  locality  of  the  present  Lano;doii  School  is 
improved  with  1,071  dwelling  houses,  with  a  probable  school  popu- 
lation (exclusive  of  high-school  pupils)  of  2,142  and  with  a  school- 
building  accommodation  of  400. 

What  is  to  become  of  the  1,742  children  who,  under  the  law,  are 
compelled  to  go  to  school  and  who  are  not  provided  with  school 
facilities  at  present '( 

The  Chairman.  Speaking  of  this  building,  according  to  your  rep- 
resentation there  and  the  number  of  children  to  be  accommodated, 
you  will  have  to  have  school  facilities  for  more  than  are  provided 
iFor,  will  you  not  ? 

Mr.  ToRBERT.  We  will  take  half  a  loaf  rather  than  none  at  all. 
We  were  very  anxious  to  have  a  16-room  building  out  there,  and  we 
thought  we  needed  it,  but  the  board  of  education  thought  the}^  had 
better  make  a  start  with  an  8-room  building. 

Senator  Cl'RTIS.  Is  there  not  also  a  proposition  to  enlarge  the  other 
building,  the  present  school  buildmg;  or  is  that  just  to  buy  additional 
ground  i 

Mr.  ToRBERT.  Additional  ground,  I  thmk.  Senator. 

Senator  Cmris.  I  know  the  c|uestion  was  up  yesterday.  The 
Langdon  Building  is  an  old,  antiquated  building.  There  has  been 
an  addition  to  it  in  the  last  eight  vears. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Mr.  Nigh  makes  a  complaint  that  as  the  consent 
of  Congress  for  the  appropriation  for  land  that  was  to  be  purchased 
has  not  been  carried  out,  and  that  if  the  proposition  the  commis- 
sioners recommend  and  you  recommend  is  adopted,  a  large  number 
of  children  will  have  to  walk  a  mile  to  get  to  that  school.  How  is 
that  ? 

Mr.  ToRBERT.  Mr.  Simons,  the  president  of  the  association,  has  a 
map  here  that  will  give  you  the  exact  distance  between  those  sites. 

^Ir.  Wharton.  My  children  walk  to  that  school,  Mr.  Chairman,  and 
I  would  rather  they  would  walk  2  miles  than  go  there.  I  brought  my 
children  from  New  York,  where  they  have  fireproof  buildiiigs  and 
all  improvements,  and  I  am  trusting  them  there  to  a  place  that  is  a 
second  CoUingwood. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  This  matter  was  brought  to  our 
attention  yesterday  by  Mr.  Blair,  and  he  demonstrated  to  us  very 
forcibly  the  neccssitv  of  this  school. 

Mr.  ToRBERT  (explaining  blue  print).  This  is  the  present  site  and 
here  is  the  proposed  new  site  at  Eighteenth  Street.  You  can  see  the 
distance  there. 

(Mi\  Torbert  further  explained  the  blue  print  to  the  committee.) 

I  should  like  to  make  this  explanation,  if  I  may.  When  this  school 
site  was  accjuired  I  resided  in  Woodridge,  and  at  that  time  I  was  sec- 
retary of  the  Rhode  Island  Avenue  Association,  and  I  did  everything 
I  could  to  procure  a  site  up  on  the  hill  near  Woodridge,  because 
Woodridge  was  developing  verv  rapidly.  The  only  available  site 
up  there  was  a  site  containing  ahout  40,000  scjuare  feet,  which  could 
be  obtained  for  812,000.  Now,  offset  that  with  a  site  that  could  be 
obtained  for  S12,000  outside  and  there  is  cj^uite  a  difference  in  point 
of  area.  At  the  same  time  I  did  everything  I  could  to  get  that  site 
up  nearer  Woodridge:  but  I  felt  simj)ly  this  way,  that  I  was  over- 
ruled bv  the  local  citizens'  association  and  bv  tlie  board  of  educa- 
tion and  by  the  District  Commissioners,  and  I  tlhou^ht  it  was  time  to 
stop.     I  did  stop,  and  we  have  a  school  site,  and  I  want  a  school 


314  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

building  on  it  as  soon  as  possible.  I  have  no  children  niyself  and 
am  not  interested  in  it  personally,  but  I  am  interested  in  educational 
matters. 

I  would  like  just  to  say  this  about  this  Langdon  School.  There  was 
a  combination  of  first  and  second  grades,  and  a  combination  of  kinder- 
garten and  fourth  grade.  Each  one  is  given  only  a  half  day.  The 
third  and  fourth  grades  are  combined  in  one  room,  and  those  two 
grades  have  a  full  day.  How  in  the  world  the  teacher  manages  it  1 
do  not  know.  There  is  no  room  in  the  building  for  the  domestic- 
science  classes,  and  a  house  has  to  be  rented  in  the  neighborhood  at 
a  cost  of  $30  a  month.  There  is  no  manual-training  class,  and  the 
boys  have  to  come  into  the  city,  involving  the  loss  of  an  hour  on  the 
cars  and  the  payment  of  car  fare,  w^hich  with  some  parents  counts 
materially. 

I  think  I  have  taken  up  all  the  time  of  the  committee  that  I  feel 
warranted  in  taking. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  think  the  committee  is  convinced 
that  that  school  is  necessary.  We  had  it  before  us  yesterday  very 
forcibly  presented  by  Mr.  Blair. 

Mr.  Wharton.  Gentlemen,  as  a  parent  I  say,  please  do  not  lay 
feuds  between  adults  upon  our  children. 

HALF-AND-HALF    PRINCIPLE — AGAIN. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  J.  H.  ADRIAANS. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen  of  the  comn:'ittee,  I 
am  connected  with  the  East  Washington  Citizens'  Association,  with 
Dr.  Emmons,  who  addressed  you  a  few  minutes  ago,  and  there  are  three 
items  in  this  bill  to  which  I  desire  to  invite  jour  attention.  One  of 
them  is  the  half-and-half  proposition,  and  in  respect  to  that  I  wish  to 
say  this: 

1.  The  rule  of  the  Senate  is  to  exclude  general  legislation  from 
appropriation  bills. 

2.  It  is  asserted  by  members  of  the  fiscal  committee  that  the 
House  rider  does  not  conform  to  the  recommendation  of  the  com- 
mittee. 

3.  There  is  no  need  for  haste  or  urgency  to  abolish  the  half-and-half 
system  by  a  rider. 

4.  The  House  refused  to  hear  the  citizens  of  the  District  on  the 
District  of  Columbia  appropriation  bill. 

5.  The  subject  is  one  that  might  well  be  treated  in  a  separate  bill 
after  mature  deliberation. 

6.  There  could  be  no  objection  to  the  abolition  of  the  half-and-half 
principle  if  exemptions  from  taxation  were  also  abolished. 

7.  The  citizens  do  not  complain  of  the  tax  of  $1.50  oil  the  hundred 
dollars.  While  I  am  on  that  subject,  I  want  to  say  that  I  have  seen 
a  number  of  tables  that  have  been  published  where  it  is  stated  that 
we  have  been  pajdng  at  the  rate  of  $1  a  hundred.  I  simply  wanted 
it  to  be  on  the  record  that  we  pay  $1.50  on  the  hundred  on  all  im- 
proved property,  and  all  agricultural  property  pays  $1  a  hundred; 
but  as  soon  as  property  is  improved  it  is  immediately  placed  on  tlie 
$1.50  basis;  and  3^et  a  number  of  tables  are  being  circulated  on  the 
basis  that  we  pay  $1. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLU^MBTA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1017.  315 

S.  The  citizens  do  not  complain  of  the  tax  of  $1.50  on  a  hinulred, 
but  they  do  co  nplain  of  increasing  assessments,  which  automatically 
augment  by  the  transfer  of  realty  from  the  taxable  to  tlie  exempt  list. 

9.  The  expenses  of  the  Government  re  naining  the  same  or  increas- 
ing, all  property  which  does  not  pay  taxes  increases  the  burden  on 
that  which  does  pay. 

10.  The  agreement  by  the  United  States  to  pay  deficiency  does  not 
cure  the  matter,  since  the  legislative  power  rests  with  Congress  to 
make  a  small  deficiency  by  creating  large  assessments. 

In  this  connection  I  should  like  to  read  into  the  record  a  letter 
addressed  to  me  by  Mr.  Tinkham,  who  mad.e  a  very  strenuous  fight  in 
the  House  against  the  rider.  A  distinction  made  against  the  Borland 
rider  and  some  riders  upon  some  Federal  appropriation  bill  where  they 
wanted  to  extend  the  hours  of  labor,  and  Mr.  Borland  had  attached  a 
rider  to  the  appropriation  bill  to  extend  the  hours  of  labor,  and  I  was 
calling  Mr.  Tiiikham's  attention  to  that  in  connection  with  this  rider 
on  the  District  of  Columbia  bill.     His  letter  is  as  follows: 

House  of  Representatives,  United  States, 

Washington,  D.  C,  May  24,  1916. 
J.  H.  Adriaans,  Esq.,  612  F Street  NW.,  City. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Adriaans:  Your  communication  of  May  20  was  duly  received. 
The  difference  between  the  Borland  rider  and  the  riders  upon  the  District  bill  is 
that  the  Borland  rider  was  not  made  an  order  by  a  special  rule  as  was  the  legislation 
now  before  Congress.  No  points  of  order  can  be  made  against  the  legislation  which 
was  carried  on  a  special  rule. 
Feeling  pleased  you  should  have  written  me,  I  remain, 
Yours,  very  sincerely, 

George  Holden  Tinkham. 

In  thk  connection,  I  invite  your  attention  to  a  statement  I  made 
before  the  half-and-half  committee,  which  is  found  in  volume  1,  at 
page  797,  where  I  discussed  the  question  of  exemptions.  I  simply 
want  to  incorporate  that  as  a  part  of  my  remarks  here,  because  I 
claim  that  the  subject  of  exemption  is  one  worthy  of  legislative  con- 
sideration, especially  in  connection  with  the  half-and-half  principle. 

Senator  Gallinger.  How  extensive  is  that  quotation  you  want 
to  incorporate  in  this  hearing? 

Mr.  Adriaans.  I  think  it  makes  about  two  pages,  but  it  is  well 
worth  reading,  even  though  I  say  it  myself,  because  it  goes  right  into 
the  early  history  of  the  District,  and  it  gives  the  exact  figures,  and 
I  was  the  only  person  who  spoke  on  the  subject  of  exemptions  before 
the  half-and-half  committee ;  and  as  it  is  so  pertinent  to  this  question 
of  the  half-and-haK  principle,  I  would  move  to  strike  out,  beginning 
with  line  3,  page  1,  of  the  bill  as  it  passed  the  House  and  ending 
with  line  10.  page  2,  and  substitute  therefor  the  following: 

That  hereafter  all  appropriations  made  for  the  support  of  the  government  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  including  all  sums  appropriated  in  any  general  appropriation 
act  indicated  to  be  paid  out  of  the  District  of  Columbia  revenues  and  amounts  to  pay 
the  interest  and  sinking  fund  on  the  funded  debt  of  said  District,  shall  be  paid  out  of 
the  funds  of  the  United"  States  and  of  the  revenues  of  the. District  of  Columbia,  accord- 
ing to  the  respective  ownership  of  realty  by  the  United  States,  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, and  the  citizens  thereof;  and  all  exemptions  from  taxation  are  hereby  abolished. 

The  following  sums  are  appropriated,  from  the  sources  above  indicated,  for  the 
following  expenses  of  the  Government  of  the  District  of  Columbia  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30.  1917,  namely — 

and  then  it  goes  on 

Senator  Curtis.  What  is  your  intention — just  to  tax  real  estate 
only — in  that  amendment  ? 


316  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1017. 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  I  mean  to  say  that  the  half-aiid-haK  principle  will 
fade  a^vay  if  the  United  States  is  assessed  and  pays  the  tax  on  the 
property  owned  by  them;  and  if  the  District  of  Columbia  is  assessed 
and  pays  the  tax  on  the  property  owned  b}'  them,  and  if  the  citizens 
are  assessed  and  pay  tax  on  the  property  owned  by  them. 

Senator  Gallixger.  What  would  you  include  as  property  belong- 
mg  to  the  General  Government  i 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  Say  this  Capitol  building,  for  instance. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes. 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  Let  it  be  assessed  and  let  the  United  States  appro- 
priate to  pay  the  tax  on  the  assessed  yalue  just  the  same  as  the  citi- 
zens pay  on  the  assessed  Value  of  their  property. 

Senator  Curtis.  Would  you  assess  parks  and  school  grounds  and 
playgrounds  for  children  ? 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  Yes.  Of  course,  I  am  simply  giving  you  this 
suggestion ;  but  the  theory  of  the  half  and  half  is  that  the  United 
States,  by  reason  of  the  ownership,  or  the  large  ownership,  of  land, 
becomes  more  or  less  obligated  to  pay  the  taxes. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes. 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  It  is  on  no  other  principle  that  you  can  reconcile 
the  fact  that  the  Congress  from  the  year  1878  to  the  present  time 
has  been  paying  one-half  of  the  expenses  of  the  District,  except  by 
recognizing  that  by  virtue  of  the  ownership  of  the  land  by  the  United 
States  there  rests  upon  the  United  States  an  obligation  to  pay  or 
help  pay  the  taxes. 

Senator  Gallixger.  There  has  been  an  element  of  patriotism, 
so  far  as  the  Government  is  concerned;  as  there  ought  to  be. 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  Yes.  On  line  14,  page  24,  I  would  insert  the 
following : 

FERRY,  SOUTH  CAPITOL  STREET  TO  POPLAR  POINT. 

Firth  Sterling  Avenue,  from  Poplar  Point  to  Shepherds,  D.  C,  §113,000;  or  so  much 
thereof  as  may  be  necessary. 

In  that  connection,  I  wish  to  say  that  1  have  received  a  franchise 
from  the  Secretary  of  War,  which  is  about  to  expire,  in  February, 
1917,  to  operate  a  ferry  from  the  foot  of  South  Capitol  Street  to 
Poplar  Point  on  the  other  side,  and  the  only  obstacle  that  has  existed 
to  the  establishment  of  that  ferry  is  that  there  is  no  outlet  on  the 
south  side.  The  commissipners  have  laid  out  this  street.  Firth 
Sterling  Avenue,  on  the  map,  and  ultimately  they  intend  to  open 
that  street,  which  would  make  accessible  to  the  heart  of  the  city  the 
Insane  Asylum  and  the  Blue  Palins  Asylum,  Fort  Washington,  and 
Fort  Foote,  and  it  would  help  the  farmers  coming  to  our  markets  to 
get  a  near  access  to  the  markets  instead  of  going  a  roundabout  way  by 
way  of  Congress  Heights,  over  roads  with  steep  hills,  where  they  have 
to  put  four  horses  on  a  two-horse  load.  This  ferry  is  intencl'ed  to 
accommodate  those  people  as  well  as  the  local  goyernment — the 
district  government. 

Senator  S.mith  of  Maryland.  Is  this  a  matter  that  you  are  asking 
an  appropriation  from  Congress  for? 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Have  you  seen  the  commissioners  in 
regard  to  it  ( 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  Yes,  sir. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  317 

Senator  Smith  of  Marylaml.  Has  there  been  an  estimate  for  it  ^ 

Mr.  Adriaans.  Yes;  T  have  here  a  letter 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryhmd.  But  have  tlie  commissioners  insG>»ted 
it  in  their  estimates  ( 

Mr.  Adriaans.  I  have  a  letter  here  from  Commissioner  Kutz. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  But  it  is  not  nicluded  in  the  esti- 
mates of  the  commissioners  ( 

Mr.  Adriaans.  No,  sir.  The  reason  for  that  is  that  we  did  not 
apply  to  them  soon  enongh. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maiyland.  We  could  not  take  it  in  if  it  is  not 
included  in  the  estimates.  It  would  be  useless  for  you  to  take  up 
your  time  and  ours  with  it.  It  is  a  new  project.  It  is  not  estimated 
for  at  all. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  It  is  a  matter  of  great  urgency  and  great  im- 
portance. 

(The  statement  of  Mr.  Adriaans  before  the  Joint  Select  Committee 
on  Fiscal  Relations  between  the  United  States  and  the  District  of 
Columbia  is  here  inserted  in  full,  as  foUows:) 

STATEMENT    OF    MR.    JOHN    H.    ADRIAANS. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen  of  the  committee,  some  time  ago 
when  this  committee  was  organized,  I  sent  a  communication  to  the  committee  on  the 
subj  .'Ct  of  exemptions,  and,  to  refresh  your  recollection,  I  will  briefly  read  it,  because 
it  contains  much  matter  that  is  useful  to  this  committee  in  the  solution  of  the  questions 
confided  to  it  by  Congress. 

The  District  of  Columbia,  originally  10  miles  square  (clause  17,  sec.  8,  Art.  I,  Con- 
stitution), ceded  by  the  States  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  respectively,  to  become  the 
seat  of  Federal  Government,  is  by  the  same  article  under  the  exclusive  legislative 
power  of  Congress.  (Riley  v.  Lamar,  2  Cranch,  U.  S.,  344;  Hepburn  v.  Ellzey,  2 
Cranch,  U.  S.,  444;  Loughborough  v.  Blake,  5  Wheaton,  317;  Cohens  v.  Virginia,  6 
Wheaton,  264;  Insurance  Co.  v.  Cotton,  1  Peter,  511;  Kendall  r.  U.  S.,  12  Peters,  524; 
U.  S.  V.  Dewitt,  9  Wallace,  41;  Willard  r.  Presbrey,  14  Wall.,  676;  Phillips  v.  Pa>-ne, 
92  U.  S.  130;  Bank  v.  Yankton,  101  U.  S.,  129;  R.  R.  Co.  r.  Lowe,  114  U.  S.,  525;  Barnes 
V.  D.  C,  91  U.  S.,  540;  Stoutenbingh  v.  Hennick,  129  U.  S.,  141;  Eckloff  v.  D.  C, 
135  U.  S.,  240;  U.  S.  v.  May,  2  McArthur,  512;  In  re  Hennick,  5  Mackey,  489;  D.  C. 
v.  Waggaman,  4  Mackey,  328;  Eckloff  r.  D.  C,  4  Mackey,  572.) 

By  the  act  of  Congress  of  1846  the  portion  of  the  District  ceded  by  Virginia  was 
retroceded,  containing  30.75  square  miles. 

The  remainder,  69.25  square  miles,  ceded  by  Maryland,  now  constitutes  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia. 

Of  this  69.25  square  miles,  or  44,320  acres,  there  were  owned  by  the  L'nited  States 
on  March  2,  3904,  as  appears  by  report  of  assessor  (S.  Doc.  181,  58th  Cong.,  2d  sess.), 
53.132  per  cent;  by  the  District  of  Columbia,  1.21  percent;  which  realty  was  exempted 
from  taxation  because  applied  to  governmental  uses.  In  addition  thereto,  0.11  per 
cent  of  the  realty  devoted  to  legation  uses,  1.27  per  cent  applied  to  religious  uses, 
0.43  per  cent  applied  to  charitable  uses,  0.849  per  cent  applied  to  educational  uses, 
0.084  per  cent  applied  for  cemeterj-  purposes,  and  0.022  per  cent  devoted  to  canal 
uses,  are  likewise  exempted  from  taxation;  so  that  land  and  improvements  aggre- 
gating 25,309.82  acres,  assessed  at  $283,906,848  and  constituting  57.107  per  cent  of  the 
area  of  the  District,  are  exempt  from  taxation.  So  that  at  this  period  19,010.18  acres 
sustained  the  entire  burden  of  taxation  on  the  whole  District  and  25,309.89  acres  did 
not  contribute  to  maintain  either  the  United  States  or  District  of  Columbia  Govern- 
ments. It  must  be  stated,  however,  in  justice  to  the  United  States,  that  imder  the 
act  of  June  11,  1878,  it  assumed  to  pay  half  of  the  expenses  of  the  District — popularly 
known  as  the  half-and-half  principle — although  it  owned  more  than  half  (53.132  per 
cent)  of  the  realty  of  the  District. 

The  above  figures,  however,  are  as  of  date  of  1904;  but  it  is  well  known  that  the 
holdings  of  exempt  property  have  materially  increased  since  and  the  holdings  of  taxable 
property  correspondingly  diniinishfd.  Thus  the  United  States  ha.«  since  condemned 
nine  squares  for  a  Capitol  plaza;  five  squares  between  Fourteenth  and  I-'il'teenth  Streets 
N\\'.,  with  Pennsylvania  Avenue  as  a  northern  boundary  and  B  Street  as  a  southern 
boundary,  have  also  been  condemned;  other  condemnations  have  been  made,  are  in 


318  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

process  of  conversion,  or  in  contemplation  of  acquisition  by  the  United  States.  Like- 
wise the  District  of  Columbia  has  sinf  e  1904  increased  its  realty  holdings  by  purchase 
or  condemnation.  Similarly  the  le.i;ations.  charitable,  religious,  educational,  ceme- 
tery, and  canal  institutions  have  not  been  inactive  about  increasing  their  realty  hold- 
ing by  gift,  devise,  or  purchase.  The  assessor  could  furnish  the  figures  of  these  trans- 
fers. *  ■ 

A.s  the  expenses  of  conducting  the  Federal  and  District  Governments  are  not 
diminishing  but  rather  increasing,  it  would  appear  that  any  suggestion  of  the  United 
States  withdrawing  its  financial  support  from  the  District  would  mean  that  19,010.18 
acres  must  sustain  the  entire  burden  of  taxation  of  44.320  acres. 

I  therefore  have  the  honor  to  recommend  to  your  honorable  committee: 

First.  That  the  financial  support  of  the  United  States  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
District  should  not  be  decreased  but  rather  increased. 

Second.  That  a  just  and  equal  assessment  of  realty  at  full  value  should  be  provided. 

Tiiird.  That  as  an  aid  to  true  assessment  the  bills  CH.  R.  15138  and  H.  R.  9842,  G3d 
Cong.)  known  as  the  "true  consideration'"  legislation  should  be  enacted. 

Fourth.  That  exemption  of  private  realty  from  taxation  should  either  be  totally 
or  partially  abolished. 

Fifth.  That  the  taxation  on  improvements  should  be  based  largely  on  the  income 
or  profit  therefrom. 

Sixth.  That  deterioration  of  improvements  should  be  considered  by  assessor  in  pro- 
viding a  flexible  svstem  of  taxing  improvements. 

Seventh.  That  income-producing  securities  in  the  hands  of  private  holders  should 
share  the  burden  of  taxation. 

The  par  icular  part  that  I  seek  to  direct  your  attention  to  is  that  we  have  six  classes 
of  propert-  that  do  not  at  this  time  pay  any  taxes  at  all — the  legation  property.  11 
per  cent  of  the  whole,  $277,500  on  the  improvements  and  $192,609  on  the  land,  making 
$470,109. 

Mr.  CooPEi.  You  say  11  per  cent  of  the  whole.  What  do  you  mean  by  the  whole? 
Eleven  per  ce  it  of  what? 

Mr.  AuRi.\ANs.  Eleven  per  cent  of  the  property  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  Chairman.  You  do  not  mean  to  s.iy  the  legation  property  constitutes  11  per 
cent  of  the  ^alue? 

Mr.  AuRiAANS.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  The  legations? 

Mr.  AuRiAANS.  Yes,  sir. 

The  Chairman.  Of  the  property  in  the  whole  District? 

Mr.  Adriaans.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Gard.  That  would  only  figure  $400,000;  you  have  there  something  like  that. 
That  would  not  be  11  per  cent  of  the  value  of  all  "of  the  property  in  the  District. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  To  be  absolutely  sure  about  this,  if  you  will  get  Senate  Document 
No.  181.  Fifty-eighth  Congress,  second  session,  page  2.  you  will  see  where  I  get  this 
inf  )raiation. 

Mr.  Cooper.  That  is  why  I  asked  for  the  information. 

Senator  Saulsbury.  It  must  have  been  a  misprint,  if  there  is  any  such  figure  there. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  It  is  likely  that  it  is. 

The  <  HAiRMAN.  It  must  be  a  misprint,  because  it  could  not  be  correct  in  the  very 
nature  of  things. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  Religious  property,  they  have  1.27  per  cent. 

Mr.  Gard.  The  other  must  be  an  error.  There  is  certainly  more  religious  property 
than  there  is  legation  property  in  this  District. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  Yes.     That  makes  $6,405,702. 

Charitable  uses,  43  per  cent,  $2,139,638. 

Mr.  Gard.  The  legation  property  must  be  0.11  per  cent. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  The  educational  uses  is  0.849  per  cent,  $4,071,346;  cemetery  uses. 
0.084  per  cent,  making  .$422,178;  and  the  canal  uses  0.022  per  cent,  making  $198,107; 
which  makes  a  grand  total  of  $13,807,080. 

Now,  I  concede  that  there  is  some  doubt  about  legation  property,  and  that  there 
may  be  a  question  there  as  to  whether  it  is  correct 

Mr.  Gard.  That  is  0.11  per  cent.     They  have  verified  it  here.  r 

Mr.  Rainey.  One  and  one  tenth  per  cent;  that  is  what  it  is. 

The  Chairman.  Your  figures  show  that  you  calculated  it  in  that  way.  too.  You 
did  not  figure  it  at  11  per  cent;  you  figured  it  at  1.1  per  cent. 

Mr.  Cooper.  How  much  money  did  you  say  they  were  worth?  You  gave  the  total 
figures  there. 

Mr.  Adriaan.s.  Legations,  $470,000. 

Mr.  V  ooPER.  That  shows  that  it  is  not  11  per  cent. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  319 

Mr.  Adkiaans.  Yes.  sir.     It  is  §470,109. 

The  ■'  HAiRMAN.  It  is  very  evident  that  you  were  mistaken  in  that. 

Mr.  AnaiAxxs.  Yes:  I  am  frank  to  say  that  I  was  mistaken. 

The  <.  HAiRMAX.  Ii  you  have  figured  it  the  same,  you  simply  miscalled  it  in  your 
remarks. 

Mr.  AuRiAAxs.  I  hope  the  committee  will  understand  that  it  was  not  an  intentional 
mistake. 

TheCnAiRMAx.  We  understand  that.  You  put  the  decimal  point  in  the  wrong 
place. 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  As  to  the  legation  uses,  I  wish  to  make  this  suggestion,  that  the  mere 
fact  that  these  foreign  governments  are  our  guests  does  not  seem  to  me  conclusive 
to  exempt  them  from  taxation.  We  do  not.  l)ecause  of  the  fact  that  they  are  our  guests, 
have  to  furnish  them  postage  stamps;  we  do  not  have  to  furnish  theiii  with  coal;  we 
do  not  have  to  furnish  them  with  provisions. 

Mr.  R.\iXEY.  Suppose  they  exempt  our  legations  in  their  countries  from  taxation. 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  If  ihey  do  that,  that  is  another  question.  If  it  is  a  fact  that  any 
foreign  governments  exempt  the  United  States  property  in  their  countries  from  taxa- 
tion, then,  reciprocally,  we  will  exempt  their  property  from  taxes  here:  btit  as  the  case 
now  stands,  the  mere  fact  of  these  legations — for  instance,  the  British  Legation,  at  the 
corner  of  (  onnecticut  Avenue  and  X  Street 

Mr.  (  OOPER.  Who  has  the  title  in  fee  to  the  British  Eml:ass>-? 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  The  British  Government. 

Mr.  Cooper.  Do  yoti  think  that  we  ought  to  tax  property  of  a  foreign  government? 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  I  can  not  see  any  logical  reason  why  we  should  not  tax  them. 

Mr.  Cooper.  We  tax  our  own  property.     We  do  not  tax  other  people's  property. 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  There  is  property  belonging  to — not  belonging  to,  but  occupied  by 
foreign  legations,  which  is  owned  by  private  persons.  For  instance,  Mrs.  Henderson 
has  a  house  on  Sixteenth  Street  tliat  she  leases  to  a  foreign  government,  and  that 
property  pays  taxes.  So  that  the  mere  fact  that  the  property  is  occupied  by  a  foreign 
go\'ernment  does  not.  to  my  mind,  exempt  them  from  the  payment  of  taxes. 

The  Chairmax.  If  our  Government  would  by  reciprocity' get  the  benefit  of  any 
exemption  by  a  foreign  government,  that  would  be  only  another  argument  why  the 
United  States  Government  should  pay  something  more  to  the  District. 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  When  that  condition  is  shown  to  exist,  that  the  French  Government, 
for  instance,  does  exempt  property  belonging  to  the  United  States,  occupied  by  the 
American  ambassador,  and  does  not  demand  any  taxes  from  the  United  States  for  the 
occupancy  of  that  property,  then,  reciprocally,  I  can  see  that  it  would  be  entirely 
just  that  we  should  do  the  same  by  them.  But  unless,  and  until,  such  a  condition  as 
that  is  sho^vn  I  do  not  believe  that  we  in  justice  to  our  own  citizens,  would  be  justified, 
merely  bepause  those  foreign  governments  are  our  guests,  to  make  our  citizens  bear  the 
added  burden  of  the  taxation. 

But  now  we  have  five  classes  of  other  propertj-  that  stand  on  a  different  footing,  and 
of  those  four  are  closely  allied  together — religious,  charitable,  educational,  and  ceme- 
tery. 

Now,  as  to  those  I  wish  to  make  this  suggestion:  You  would  naturally  think,  unless 
you  had  looked  into  the  matter,  that  anything  so  well  founded  as  this  is  had  a  Bible 
origin  to  it,  but  I  have  looked  into  that  and  find  that  instead  of  there  being  a  Bible 
origin  it  is  just  exactly  the  other  way,  and  I  will  read  you  from  the  Protestant  Bible 
and  also  from  the  Catholic  Bible  to  show  you  that  there  is  no  truth  in  that  statement 
at  all.  I  read  from  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  in  the  Catholic  Bible, 
beginning:  with  the  words — 

And  when  they  had  come  to  Capharnaum  they  that  received  the  didrachmas  came  to 
Peter  and  said  to  him  "Doth  not  your  master  pay  the  didrachmas?  " 

He  said:  '"Yes."  And  when  he  was  come  into  the  house  Jesus  prevented  him, 
saying  "What  is  they  opinion,  Simon?  The  kings  of  the  earth,  of  whom  do  they 
receive  tribute  or  custom — of  their  own  children  or  of  strangers?" 

And  he  said  "Of  strangers."  Je.sus  said  unto  him  '"Then  the  children  are  free? 
But  that  we  may  not  scandalize  them,  go  to  the  sea  and  cast  in  a  hook:  and  that  fish 
which  shall  first  come  up,  take:  and  when  thou  hast  opened  its  mouth  thou  shall  find 
a  stater:  take  that  and  give  it  to  them  for  me  and  thee." 

In  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  Matthew,  beginning  with  the  twenty-fourth  verse, 
it  says: 

And  when  they  were  come  to  Capernaum,  they  that  received  tribute  money  came  to 
Peter  and  -said,  "Doth  not  your  master  pay  tribute?"  He  saith,  "Yes."  And  when 
he  was  come  into  the  house  Je.ms  prevented  him,  saying,  "What  thinke.'^t  thou, 
Simon — of  whom  do  the  kings  of  the  earth  take  custom  or  tribute,  of  their  own  children 
or  of  strangers?"  Peter  .saith  unto  Him.  "Of  strangers."  .Tesus  said  unto  him, 
"Then  are  the  children  free.  Notwithstanding,  lest  we  should  offend  them,  go  thou  * 
to  the  sea  and  cast  an  hook  and  take  up  the  fish  that  first  cometh  up,  and  when  thou 


320  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

hast  opened  his  mouth  thou  shalt  find  a  piece  of  money;  that  take  and  give  unto  them 
for  Me  and  thee." 

The  CiiAiRMANf.  The  quastion,  thpugh,  is  what  your  Bible  proves. 

Mr.  AuRiAANS.  I  think  this  proves  itself . 

The  Chairmam.  The  modern -interpretation  of  it  might  be  that  you  must  give  the 
tax  collector  of  the  church  all  the  money  that  you  find  in  the  mouths  of  fishes. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  No;  I  would  put  a  reasonable  interpretation  on  it,  and  that  is  that 
there  should  be  no  discrimination  whatever  between  private  property  applied  to 
religious  purposes  or  charitable  purposes  or  educational  purposes  and  similar  property 
belonging  to  the  people  indiscriminately.  In  otlier  words,  they  should  be  placed  on 
an  equal  footing. 

Mr.  Rainey.  That  is  not  a  tax  upon  real  estate;  that  is  a  sort  of  poll  tax  he  paid. 
He  did  not  pay  any  tax  on  any  church.  Ministers  to  this  day  pay  a  poll  tax  wherever 
they  charge  that  poll  tax. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  Now,  if  a  minister  is  liable  for  the  poll  tax,  I  can  see  no  reason  why 
his  church  is  not  liable  to  pay  the  real  estate  tax. 

Mr.  Rai\ey.  But  this  passage  you  have  read  does  not  prove  your  proposition  at  all. 

Mr.  Gard.  Do  you  repressn"  the  local  free-thought  association? 

Mr.  Adriaans.  Of  course,  you  understand  at  that  time  there  was  no  church.  Jesus 
Himself  was  the  church,  and* He  came  to  found  this  church. 

Mr.  Rainey.  He  provided  a  method  there  for  the  paying  of  the  poll  tax  of  himself 
and  one  other.     It  was  not  the  church  at  all. 

The  Chairman.  It  is  for  me  and  thee,  He  said. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  He  inculcated  the  idea  of  a  man  observing  the  duty  that  he  owed 
to  his  government. 

Let  me  call  your  attention  to  another  instance.  Jesus  himself  was  born  during  the 
tax  time,  and  his  father,  Jos-^ph,  made  a  direction  that  they  should  pay  the  tax. 
In  other  words,  they  believed  in  being  loyal  to  the  government;  that  a  man  showed 
his  loyalty  to  religion  by  his  loyalty  to  liis  government.  In  other  words,  that  when- 
ever a  religious  denomination  takes  it  upon  itself  simply  to  gain  money  and  inculcate 
disregard  of  the  obligation  that  the  citizen  owes  to  his  government,  I  say  that  religious 
denomination  is  not  li\dng  up  to  the  duties  that  belong  to  it,  and  I  believe  it  would 
be  the  proper  thing  to  tax  every  one  of  these  religious  corporations,  charitabl"  cor- 
porations—and pretty  mucli  all  of  them  are  controlled  by  the  same  set  of  men.  The 
sanitary  corporations,  the  religious  corporations,  and  the  charitable  corporations — the 
same  set  of  men  is  in  all  of  them.  Now,  what  follows?  It  follows  that  the  money 
that  would  otherwise  be  paid  to  the  United  States  or  to  the  District  they  I'^nd  out; 
they  go  to  a  real  estate  agent  and  say,  "Here,  we  have  got" — I  do  not  think  of  the 
word. 

Mr.  Cooper.  Imaginary? 

Mr.  Adriaans.  No;  it  "is  not  imaginary.  I  can  tell  you  case  after  case.  For  in- 
stance, the  St.  Joseph's  Orphan  Asylum.  They  have  probably  something  like  $15,000 
or  $20,000.  Mr.  Nicholas  H.  Shea  and  Michael  R.  Walsh  are  trustees  of  that  orphan 
asylum,  and  they  are  constantly  lending  out  money— $5,000  and  §8,000  and  $10,000 — 
and  lending  it  out  to  the  very  people  who  pay  taxes,  when  they  do  not  pay  taxes. 

In  other  words,  it  shows  they  are  using  tliis  money;  they  are  getting  money  from 
the  United  States  and  lending  it  out  al  a  rate  for  profit."  And  it  is  not  any  one  religious 
corporation  or  charitable  corporation,  but  they  are  all  doing  it,  every  one  of  them. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  Howard  University.  Mr.  ex-Commissioner  Rudolph,  he  is 
a  trustee  of  thatinstiturion,  and  every  now  and  then  we  find  some  deed  of  trust  recorded 
whereby  $5,000,  $6,000,  or  $7,000  is  loaned  out.  Now,  if  those  institutions  have  money 
enough  to  loan  out,  why  should  they  not  have  money  enough  to  pay  their  taxes?  Is 
not  the  first  duty  that  they  owe  to  their  Government  to  pay  taxes? 

Mr.  Rainey.  You  want  "them  taxed  on  the  theory  that  there  might  be  fewer  of  them 
if  vou  taxed  them? 

Mr.  Adriaans.  No,  sir;  I  would  not  put  it  on  that  basis  at  all.  I  would  say,  "You 
are  getting  the  benefit  of  our  police  protection;  you  are  getting  the  benefit  of  our  fire 
department;  you  are  getting  the  benefit  of  our  streets."  Now,  for  instance,  George- 
town College  had  a  fire,  and  a  very  valuable  horse  went  down  the  decle*dty  and 
was  lost. 

Mr.  Cooper.  You  mean  a  horse  belonging  to  the  fire  department? 

Mr.  Adriaans.  Yes,  sir;  a  horse  belonging  to  the  fire  department.  They  came 
there  to  extinguish  the  fire.  The  (  alvary  Baptist  (  hurt  h.  at  the  corner  of  liighth  and 
H,  had  a  A^ery  disastrous  fire,  and  that  fire  A\as  extingiil.'^h('(l  l)y  our  fire  department, 
and  yet  that  (hunli  does  not  pay  anytliing  for  the  extinguishment  of  the  fire. 

Mr.  Gard.  Do  you  belong  to  any  free-thought  organization? 
•     Mr.  Adriaans.  No,  sir.     I  go  to  church,  and  I  have  talked  with  ministers  about  it. 
In  fact  I  have  asked  them  to  let  me  speak  in  the  churches,  but  there  does  not  seem  to 
be  one  of  them  who  wants  to  have  me  talk  on  that  subject. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  321 

The  Chairman.  This  is  about  the  only  free  speech  forum  you  have  stru<k,  then, 
for  a  long  time,  is  it  not? 

Mr.  Adriaaxs.  Yes.  And  there  is  still  another  consequence  of  this.  It  was  my 
privilege  some  years  ago,  when  Senator  Money  was  living — he  was  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  and  I  had  talked  with  liim  on  matters  that  he  was 
interested  in,  and  frequently  we  used  to  discuss  things,  and  he  would  tell  me  how 
difficulties  had  arisen  in  oriental  countries  by  missionaries  going  over  there  and  seek- 
ing to  have  property  that  they  acquired  there  exempted  from  taxation  because  it 
was  exempted  from  "taxation  here,  and  he  said  that  it  was  a  matter  that  led  to  great 
difficulties  frequently.  The  Boxer  trouble  came  about  in  that  way,  and  he  said  that 
he  would  like  to  see  "the  time  come  when  there  should  not  be  any  exemption  of  prop- 
erty for  religious  uses. 

So,  outside  of  the  mere  matter  of  preserving  domestic  tranquillity,  and  to  preserve 
the  peace  with  foreign  Governments,  I  think  both  of  these  results  would  be  achieved 
by  compelling  these  institutions  to  pay  taxes. 

There  is  just  one  other  class  I  wish  to  refer  to,  and  that  is  canal  uses.  I  know,  of 
course,  that  the  canal  use  stands  on  a  different  footing.  It  is  not  used  for  any  religious 
purpose,  but  I  can  see  no  logical  reason  why  the  canal  should  not  pay  taxes.  In 
other  words,  they  get  the  benefit  of  the  Government's  protection 

The  Chairman. "Was  there  anything  in  the  original  grant  in  the  nature  of  a  contract 
that  absolved  them? 

Mr.  Adriaans.  I  think  there  was,  but  all  of  those  contracts  have  the  power  of 
amendment.  Every  part  of  that  is  granted  by  Congress  or  by  the  State,  and  they 
reserve  the  power  to  amend,  and  I  can  see  no  logical  reason  why,  if  the  Congress  sees 
fit  to  ask  the  canal  to  pay  taxes,  they  should  not" do  it. 

I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,  gentlemen,  for  your  kindness  and  I  hope  I  have, 
as  I  have  tried,  made  it  plain  to  you. 

Mr.  Seibold.  May  I  ask  the  gentleman  one  cjuestion? 

The  Chairman.  That  is  against  the  rule  the  committee  has  made. 

Mr.  Adriaans.  When  I  originally  addressed  the  committee  on  this  subject  I  gave 
this  data  to  the  committee. 

MUNICIPAL   HOSPITAL — AGAIN, 

STATEMENT  OF  ME.  A.  J.  McKELWAY. 

Mr.  McKelway.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  just  representing,  as  chair- 
man, a  committee  of  the  ^londay  Evening  Club,  in  favor  of  the  new 
municipal  hospital.  I  have  here  a  letter  which  I  can  read.  It  is  as 
follows : 

Monday  Evening  Club, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Hon.  John  Walter  Smith, 

Chairman  Senate  Committee  on  Appropriations  for  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Dear  Sir:  The  ^londay  Evening  Club  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  a  group  of  500 
social  workers  banded  together  for  consideration  of  important  improvements  in  the 
social  work  of  the  District,  beg  herewith  to  submit  a  series  of  petitions  which  have  been 
circulated  by  the  club  asking  for  a  new  municipal  hospital.  These  petitions  have  been 
signed  by  15,300  residents  of  the  District  of  Columbia  representing  each  of  the  foui* 
geographical  sections  of  the  city. 

In  many  cases  societies  and  clubs  interested  in  civic  and  social  welfare,  larget 
stores  and  establishments  have  signed  in  gi'oups  asking  that  their  signatm'es  be  an 
indorsement  and  a  united  appeal  for  a  new  municipal  hospital.  Representative  of 
the  many  signers  of  these  petitions  are  practicing  physicians,  lawyers,  teachers,  and 
clergymen.  Many  of  these  signatures  are  those  of  people  whose  civic  spirit  and  unsel- 
fish service  to  the  District  have  made  their  opinion  of  marked  weight  and  value. 
Respectfully  submitted, 

A.  J.  McKelway,  Chairman. 
George  F.  Bowerman. 
Walter  S.  Ufford. 
Special  Committee  Monday  Evening  Club. 
Donald  G.  Price, 

Secretary  to  Committee. 
June  21,  191G. 

45737—16^21 


322  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917, 

Senator  Gallixger.  Where  are  those  citations  ? 
Mr.  McKelway.  I  have  them  here.     I  have  here  a  printed  bhmk 
for  these  petitions,  which  reads  as  follows: 

^\'hereas.  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Cohimbia  and  the  Board  of  Charities 

have  requested  an  appropriation  for  a  new  municipal  hospital  to  take  the  place  of 

the  present  antiquated  Washington  Asylum  Hospital;  and. 
Whereas,  the  need  for  the  hospital  has  been  long  recognized  by  the  citizens  of  the 

District: 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  undersigned  residents  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  respect- 
fully petition  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  and  the  respective  Appropriations 
Committees  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  to  provide  in  the  District 
appropriation  bill,  the  necessary  funds  with  which  to  begin  the  construction  of  the 
hospital. 

This  petition  is  being  circulated  under  the  auspices  of  the  Monday  Evening  Club 
of  the  District  of  Columbia.  Additional  copies  may  be  secured  of  the  corresponding 
secretary,  Mrs.  R.  Thomas  West.  2519  Fourteenth  Street  NW. 

Petitions  for  a  new  Municipal  Hospital  circulated  by  the  Monday  Evening  Club  of 
the  District  of  Columbia. 

Fifteen  thousand  three  hundred  signatures. 

Senator  Curtis.  How  many  do  you  say  signed  that  petition? 

Mr.  McKelway.  Fifteen  thousand  three  hundred.  I  do  not  sup- 
pose it  is  necessary  to  make  any  argument  about  it. 

Senator  Curtis.  You  do  not  say  anthing  about  a  site. 

Mr.  McKelway.  No,  sir.  In  respect  to  a  site,  I  have  this  to  saj-. 
After  the  agitation  began  about  a  site  at  Fourteenth  and  Upshur 
Streets,  some  of  the  petitions  were  not  turned  in.  Some  of  those 
peti*^ions  were  turned  in  without  reference  to  the  site. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Is  it  not  conceded  that  the  hospital  is 
necessary,  by  99  out  of  100  people? 

Mr.  McKelway.  Yes;  and  while,  speaking  in  ni}-  capacity  as 
representing  the  Monday  Evening  Club,  I  have  to  be  a  little  careful, 
I  think  the  Monday  Evening  Club  is  unanimous  hi  its  wish  that  the 
hospital  be  built  as  soon  as  possible.  These  charity  workers  know 
about  those  people,  and  the}'  are  actuated  by  the  desire  to  look  after 
the  interests  of  the  inmates  of  the  hospital,  as  well  as,  to  some  degree, 
their  pride  in  it  as  a  civic  matter. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Do  3'ou  think  it  would  be  unfortunate  to  delay 
this  by  the  appointment  of  a  commission,  which  will  take  a  couple  of 
years,  probabl}',  to  investigate  and  make  a  report  ( 

Mr.  McKelway.  I  should  say  so,  after  all  that  has  been  done  in 
regard  to  it.  Senator  Gallinger  will  remember  the  passage  of  the 
District  child-labor  bill  in  190S.  There  was  an  appropriation  made 
for  the  salaries  of  two  inspectors,  and  no  appointments  have  ever  been 
made,  but  two  policemen  were  detailed  to  perform  the  duties  of  in- 
spectors. The  commissioners  have  estimated  for  the  salaries  of  those 
two  insjicctors.     They  were  left  out  heretofore. 

Senator  Gallixger .  That  wiU  release  those  two  policemen  so  that 
they  may  go  back  to  their  proper  duty. 

XEW    BUILDIXG — XATIOXAL   TRAIXIXG    SCHOOL   FOR    GIRlTS. 

Mr.  McKelway.  Yes.  I  happen  to  be  vice  president  of  the  National 
Training  School  for  Girls.  I  filed  a  letter  asking  that  the  estimates 
of  the  commissioners  in  regard  to  that  also  be  carried  out.  We  need 
a  buihhng  there  for  white  girls.  We  have  three  buildings.  Perhaps 
you  remember  the  new  building  there.  Senator  Gallinger? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  323 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Mr.  McKelway,  For  tho  white  girl^^,  wc  need  a  new  building. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Did  we  not  make  an  appropriation  for  such 
a  building  there  ? 

Ml".  McKelway.  Yes;  and  that  is  being  used  now  for  the  white 
girls. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  was  not  constructed  for  that  ? 

Mr.  McKelway.  It  was  not  constructed  for  that.  It  was  con- 
structed because  of  the  need  for  more  room.  We  have  now  45  in  one 
building,  and  all  the  trouble  we  have  comes  from  the  number  of  girls 
in  that  one  building,  and  we  need  this  building  for  proper  care  of 
those  girls.  We  have  a  woman  that  is  giving  her  whole  heart  and 
mind  to  this  work,  and  she  has  no  place  there  for  herself,  and  it  is  cruel 
to  have  her  kept  in  that  place  without  any  place  to  which  she  can 
withdraw.  She  ought  to  have  a  home  where  she  could  retire,  some- 
times, for  rest  and  privacy. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  have  a  superintendent  there  ? 

Mr.  McKelway.  Yes,  we  have  a  new  superintendent  that  w^e  are 
very  much  pleased  with,  and  we  think  we  are  doing  a  great  deal  of 
good  there,  but  we  might  do  a  great  deal  more. 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  22,  1916. 
Senator  John  Walter  Smith, 

Senate  Appropriations  Committee,  Washington.  D.  C. 

Dear  Senator  Smith:  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  the  needs  of  the  National 
Training  School  for  Girls,  as  set  forth  in  the  report  of  the  trustees  and  the  estimates 
of  the  commissioners.  The  Attorney  General  appointed  several  new  trustees  about 
a  year  ago.  We  appointed  a  new  superintendent,  whom  we  could  not  secure  for  less 
than  $1,500;  nearly  all  the  personnel  of  the  teaching  force  has  been  changed,  and 
through  this  reorganization  we  have  accomplished  a  great  deal,  we  think,  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  delinquent  girls  detained  in  the  institution,  and  especially  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  community,  because  an  institution  of  this  sort  when  mismanaged  may 
easily  become  a  menace  to  the  coriimunity. 

We  need  the  increase  of  salary  for  the  superintendent  from  $1,200  to  SI, 400.  We 
can  supplement  for  this  year  the  "difference  of  SlOO  in  the  salary  we  are  paying  through 
a  small  income  we  have' from  invested  funds.  We  need  the  $10,000  estimated  for  for 
the  superintendent  "s  building.  No  woman  ought  to  be  subjected  to  the  nerve-racking 
ordeal  of  having  her  living  and  sleeping  quarters  in  the  building  with  the  girls. 
Then  we  greatly  need  the  $20,000  to  begin  a  new  system  of  cottages  for  white  girls 
whom  the  Juvenile  Court,  with  the  consent  of  the  trustees,  is  now  sending  to  the 
institution.  They  are  now  housed  in  a  new  building  which  was  recently  completed 
but  which  we  greatly  need  for  the  proper  segregation  of  the  negro  girls,  who  constitute 
a  large  majority  of  the  inmates.  We  have  an  average  of  75  or  80  negro  girls,  and  we 
now  have  9  wliite  girls,  the  Juvenile  Court  estimating  that  we  shall  have  an  average 
of  about  30. 

It  is  our  plan  to  secure  from  the  War  Department  a  tract  of  land  separated  by  a 
road  which  runs  in  front  of  the  present  buildings,  and  to  begin  the  construction  of  a 
cottage  for  white  girls  on  this  tract.  Negotiations  are  already  proceeding  between 
the  Department  of  Justice,  the  commissioners,  and  the  War  Department  concerning 
the  transfer  of  this  land. 

The  board  of  trustees  have  been  very  diligent  this  year  in  looking  after  Iho  institu- 
tion, have  met  every  fortnight  to  consider  its  needs;  they  are  gi\ing  treely  of  i  heir  lime 
and  energy;  and  what  we  are  asking  for  is  what  we  know  that  the  insiitulion  ought  to 
have  to  do  its  proper  work  in  reclaiming  these  girls  and  saving  the  community  ftom 
their  presence  until  they  have  been  reformed. 

We  need  also  the  $5,000  for  the  purchase  of  additional  land  for  farming  purposes  in 
order  to  raise  more  supplies  for  the  institution.  And  we  believe  that  this  would  be 
an  economy  as  well  as  giving  more  out-door  work  for  the  girls  at  the  institution. 

In  behalf  of  the  trustees  I  earnestly  urge  the  adoption  of  these  amendments  accord- 
ing to  the  estimates  of  the  commissioners. 
Cordially,  yours, 

A.  J.  McKelway,  Mce  President. 


324  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  B.  A.  COLONNA. 

Mr.  CoLOxxA.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  not  a  member  of  any  associa- 
ti(jn.  I  am  a  taxpayer  of  the  District  of  Cohimbia  with  a  large 
family.  My  children  are  from  12  to  23  years  old.  I  have  had  chil- 
dren in  the  public  schools  for  19  years,  and  I  will  not  get  out  of  the 
business  for  8  years  to  come.  I  have  come  here  on  my  own  responsi- 
bility to  speak  of  the  excellence  of  our  teachers.  I  have  never  seen 
a  superior  set  of  people,  and  particularly  this  prmcipal  of  the  Central 
High  School.  He  is  not  a  friend  of  mine.  He  is  an  acquaintence,  of 
course.  I  have  had  my  children  educated  there  m  the  higher  courses. 
He  has  a  peculiar  ability.  He  has  dra^^^l  around  himself  a  corps  of 
the  most  devoted,  careful,  and  splendid  teachers  I  have  ever  seen 
anyw^here.  Now,  it  is  not  the  bricks  and  mortar  that  make  a  col- 
lege. This  man  is  himself  a  natural-btirn  trainer  of  children.  He 
does  not  undertake,  with  those  people  there,  whatever  the  number 
may  be  under  his  command,  to  build  a  wall  around  them  so  high  that 
they  can  not  jump  over  it,  but  he  does  put  somethmg  in  their  hearts 
that  teaches  them  not  to  wish  to  jump  over  it.  I  can  not  say  too 
much  for  Mr.  Wilson.     I  thank  3"ou  for  your  attention. 

DEAX    TRACT — AGAIN. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  CHARLES  S  BUNDY. 

Mr.  BuxDY.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  but  for  an  unfortunate 
misunderstanding  between  Mr.  Coldren  and  m^^self  I  should  not 
venture  at  this  late  hour  to  claim  the  attention  of  this  committee, 
but  it  is  necessary  to  the  understanding  of  the  condition  of  affairs 
that  I  should  say  a  few  words,  and  only  a  few  words.  Mr.  Coldren 
is  a  mem])er  of  the  committee  on  parks  and  reservations,  of  which  I 
have  the  honor  to  be  chairman.  I  did  not  know  of  this  hearing  until 
last  evening,  and  I  made  haste  to  see  Mr.  Coldren,  and  had  a  talk 
with  him,  and  the  understanding  which  I  had  was  that  he  was  to 
cover  the  whole  ground;  that  he  was  to  represent  the  Board  of  Trade 
as  well  as  one  of  the  associations.  It  seems  that  he  did  not  fully 
understand  it  that  way.  The  consequence  is  that  the  Board  of 
Trade  has  not  been  represented  at  all  at  this  meeting,  and,  fearing 
that  I  should  be  censured  for  the  matter,  I  claim  the  attention  of  the 
committee  for  three  minutes. 

It  is  ])retty  weU  understood,  I  think,  that  George  Washington  was 
first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  liis  countrymen, 
and  that  G(H)rge  Washington  founded  this  cit}":  and  it  was  the  crown- 
ing act  of  his  illustrious  career,  without  any  doubt.  This  city  was 
tlie  darling  of  his  old  age.  He  made  li})eral  and  wise  provision  for 
parks.  He  believed  that  parks  should  be  brought  to  the  jieople  and 
not  the  people  sent  b}'  expensive  conveyances  to  the  parks.  The 
consequence  is  that  this  whole  city  of  Washington  is  besprinkled 
witli  ])arks.  They  were  the  children,  the  little  children,  of  his  brain. 
1  venture  to  say  that  no  citizen,  in  or  out  of  this  Capital  City,  has 
ever  criticized  that  feature  of  the  Capital  City.  No  complaints  have 
ever  come  from  without,  and  nothing  but  gratulations  and  congratu- 
lations from  the  people  within  tlie  borders  of  the  Capital  City. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  325 

Now,  here  is  a  l)eaiitifiil  space  right  on  the  hill,  known  as  the  Dean 
tract.  It  is  the  sole  remaining  space  that  is  av^ailable  for  park  pur- 
poses, and  it  ought  to  l)e  tak(>n;  and  I  venture  to  say  in  a  single 
word,  and  close  with  that  remark,  that  no  appr()j)ria.t  ion  has  been  made 
or  will  be  made  within  my  time  that  will  be  more  cordially  a})proved 
by  the  Washingtonians,  the  peoj)le  of  this  city,  than  the  appropria- 
tion for  that  park,  and  no  appropriation  will  hereafter  more  certainly 
be  hailed  by  the  people  outside  of  the  city  as  a  crowning  feature  in 
the  park  system  of  the  whole  city  than  the  Dean  tract,  to  which  I 
allude. 

I  thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  for  this  opportunity. 

PET  WORTH    SCHOOL. 

ADDITIONAL  STATEMENT  OF  MR.  JESSE  C.  SUTER. 

Mr.  SuTER.  Mr.  Chairman,  may  I  have  just  a  minute?  I  did  not 
discharge  one  duty  that  was  imposed  upon  me  by  my  association, 
and  that  is  in  regard  to  the  item  for  the  Petworth  School.  The  item 
in  the  bill  provides  for  $72,000  for  plans  to  be  made  for  an  addition 
and  an  assembly  hall,  but  the  municipal  architect  is  of  the  opinion 
that  this  should  be  $80,000  instead  of  $72,000;  that  they  should  bo 
unable  to  provide  the  accommodations  which  are  intended  and  really 
needed  unless  that  is  made  $80,000.  This,  I  am  sure,  meets  with 
the  approval  of  the  commissioners;  and  I  should  like  to  state  in  that 
connection  that  we  have  been  subjected  to  great  overcrowding  in 
Petworth. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  think  the  engineer  commissioner 
made  the  same  statement  here  yesterday. 

Mr.  Suter.  Mr.  Tucker  has  referred  to  the  third  grades  having  to 
go  to  school  only  half  a  day.  Our  third  and  fourth  grades  also  have 
to  go  for  a  half  a  day  only  in  the  Petworth  section. 

Mr.  Clayton.  There  is  just  one  thing  further  I  shoukl  like  to  say, 
Mr.  Chairman.  Mr.  Adriaans  made  the  statement  here  that  unim- 
proved property  paid  only  $1  per  hundred  tax,  while  improved  prop- 
erty paid  $1.50  a  hundred.  That,  of  course,  is  a  mistake.  We  pay 
$1.50  a  hundred  on  unimproved  agricultural  ground.  That  state- 
ment is  in  the  record,  and  I  did  not  want  it  to  go  uncontradicted. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  you  all  know  that  to  be  true. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  In  order  to  correct  the  statement 
made  by  Mr.  Adriaans,  that  will  go  in  the  record. 

(At  5  o'clock  p.  m.  the  subcommittee  adjourned  until  to-morrow, 
Friday,  June  23,  1916,  at  11  o'clock  a.  m.) 


DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA  APPROPRIATION  RILL,  lOLT. 


FRIDAY,  JUNE  23,   1916. 

United  States  Senate, 
Subcommittee  of  the  Committee  on  Appeopiuations, 

^Vaslnngton,  D.  C. 
The  subcommittee  met  at  11  o'clock  a.  m. 

Present:  Senators  Smith  of  Maryland  (chairman),  Gallinger,  Dil- 
lingham, and  Cm-tis. 

Senator  John  F.  Shafroth,  of  Colorado;  Brig.  Gen.  William  E. 
Harvey,  commanding  general  District  of  Columbia  Militia;  Capt. 
Louis  C.  Wilson,  disbursing  officer  District  of  Columbia  Militia; 
Howard  S.  Reeside,  J.  J.  Darlington,  Benjamin  S.  Minor,  B.  H. 
Warner,  jr.,  Charles  W.  Clagett,  W.  J.  Kehoe,  Charles  C.  Lancaster, 
and  others,  appeared. 

STATEMENT    OF    BRIG.    GEN.    WILLIAM    E.    HARVEY,    COM- 
MANDING   GENERAL    DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   MILITIA, 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Gen.  Harvey,  we  will  hear  what  you 
have  to  say. 

car  tickets  for  district  militia. 

Gen.  Harvey.  The  bill  as  it  came  from  the  House  embodied  in  it 
nearly  all  of  the  recommendations  that  are  made  in  my  estimates. 
There  is  one  amendment  added  which,  I  think,  it  will  be  a  conven- 
ience to  us  to  have  omitted.  There  is  a  limitation  on  the  number  of 
car  tickets  that  may  be  purchased,  not  to  exceed  S50  a  year.  That 
was  put  in  because  I  stated  before  the  committee  that  I  thought  that 
was  about  what  we  used.  I  find,  upon  investigation,  that  we  actually 
spent  last  year  for  car  tickets  about  $168.  Those  car  tickets  are 
used  almost  exclusively  in  transporting  men  from  the  armory  to  our 
rifle  range,  which  is  located  across  the  river.  There  is  a  veiy  small 
amount,  indeed,  spent  for  any  other  pm-pose.  That  is  the  main 
purpose  for  which  it  is  expended.  W"e  should  have  more  than  $50 
for   that    purpose. 

Senator  Smith.  ^Vhat  is  the  amount  ? 

Gen.  Harvey.  There  was  no  amount  specified. 

Senator  Smith.  Then  you  want  that ' '  not  to  exceed  $50 '  onatted 

Gen.  Harvey.  We  simply  want  that  omitted.  I  do  not  think  it  is 
necessary.     We  will  handle  it  as  economically  as  we  can. 

Senator  Smith.  You  do  not  want  tiny  an  oimt  stiHed  ? 

Gen.  Harvey.  No  amount;  and  I  will  keep  it  down  to  the  lowest 
possible  amount.  The  only  reason  for  asking  to  have  legislative 
authority  for  car  tickets  is  that  the  comptroller  had  ruled  that  car 

327 


328  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

tickets  could  not  be  used  for  transportation  in  the  District,  and  out  of 
excess  of  caution  I  hare  asked  special  authority  to  expend  it.  It  will 
not  call  for  any  increased  appropriation. 

STEEL    LOCKERS. 

One  item  which  I  estimated  for,  and  which  is  omitted,  is  an  addi- 
tional appropriation,  I  think  of  §7,400,  for  the  purchase  of  steel 
lockers.  They  are  necessary  for  our  armory.  The  House  omitted 
them.     If  possible,  I  should  like  to  have  that  appropriation  made. 

Senator  Gallixger.  '"For  lockers,  furniture,  and  gymnastic  appa- 
ratus for  armories'  — is  that  the  item? 

Gen.  Harvey.   Yes,  sh. 

Senator  Gallixger.  You  estimated  88,000,  and  the  House  allowed 
J5600. 

Senator  Smith.  "\^liat  page  is  that  ? 

Senator  Gallixger.  Page  S7,  at  the  top  of  the  page. 

Gen.  Harvey.  The  current  appropriation  is  S600,  and  it  has  never 
been  adequate.  The  lockers  we  have  are  a  miscellaneous  lot,  not 
large  enough,  and  not  the  proper  type. 

Senator  Smith.  Wliat  do  you  want  the  increase  for  ? 

Gen.  Harvey.  For  the  purpose  of  purchasing  sanitary  steel  Icckers 
such  as  are  used  in  Army  posts,  in  which  to  keep  the  individual 
equipment  of  men.  We  have  two  kinds  of  equipment.  There  is  the 
equipment  that  is  used  in  the  armory  drills,  and  then  there  is  what  is 
known  as  field  equipment.  When  we  come  home  from  our  summer 
camps,  we  have  the  field  equii^ment  turned  in.  If  we  could  have  a 
separate  locker  in  which  to  put  the  Meld  equipment,  I  am  satisfied 
that  we  would  save  hundreds  of  doUars,  because  there  are  two  items  of 
issue  that  we  find  it  weU-nigh  impossible  to  keep  in  the  armory;  that 
is,  shoes  and  the  olivc-drab  woolen  shirts.  If  we  can  have  a  place 
where  the  man's  field  equipment  can  be  locked  up,  an.d  he  can  have  no 
access  to  it,  we  can  be  certain  that  we  wiU  have  our  cquipmen.t  when 
it  is  wanted. 

Senator  Smith.  Then  it  requires  87,500  to  do  that,  according  to 
your  judgment  I 

Gen.  Harvey.  Yes.  We  estimated  on  over  900  lockers  for  our 
Infantry  regiment.  We  have  now  something  over  300  or  400  steel 
lockers,  but  none  in  our  main  Infantry  armory.  In  our  battery 
armories  we  have  put  in  steel  lockers,  and  they  are  safe. 

HIRE    OF    horses. 

The  next  item,  that  was  omitted  in  the  House — the  only  other 
item  that  I  estimated  for — was  an  item  of  S!6.000  for  hire  of  horses 
to  be  used  in  the  training  of  mounted  organizations.  It  is  in  tliis 
general  item  on  page  86.  I, will  say,  in  regard  to  the  supplemental 
estimate  I  subniitted,  that  it  was  made  necessary  by  the  passage  of 
the  national-d(>fense  act.  which  called  on  th(>  National  Guard  to  be 
increased  from  loO.OOO  to  457,000;  and  if  the  District  increases  its 
force  as  we  hope  to  do  it  is  estimated  that  a  straight  25  per  cent 
increase  wiU  be  needed  all  through  the  biil. 

Senator  Smith.  In  proportion  to  the  increase  of  the  whole  organ- 
ization i 

Gen.  Harvey.  Of  the  whole  organization;  ves,  sir. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPKIATION    BILL,  1S)17.  329 

LEASE    OV    AiniOKY,    STABLE,    DRILL    SUED,    AND    WAREIIOT'SE. 

In  connection  witli  the  increased  appropriation  I  asked  for  this 
legislative  authority : 

That  the  commanding  general  of  the  Militia  of  the  District  of  Columbia  i.*;  authorized 
to  enter  into  a  contract  or  contracts  for  the  lease  of  an  armory,  stable,  drill  shed,  and 
warehouse  for  cavalr>-,  field  artillery,  signal  corps,  and  hospital  corps  troops  in  one 
building,  or  separately,  for  a  period  not  to  exceed  five  years,  renewable  at  the  option 
of  the  said  commanding  general  for  an  additional  period  of  not  exceeding  five  year 
at  an  annual  rental  not  to  exceed  |8,805. 

That  is  the  estimated  rental.  That  includes  our  present  rental. 
The  purpose  of  asking  that  authority  is  to  find  some  one,  if  possible, 
in  the  District  who  will  be  willing  to  erect  a  temporary  building  con- 
taining a  drill  shed  which  may  be  utilized  for  mounted  troops.  As  it 
is  now,  our  mounted  troops  are  quartered  and  their  ecjuipment  is 
stored  at  230  First  Street,  the  old  District  building.  It  is  a  fire  trap, 
to  start  with.  There  is  no  place  to  drill  in  it.  I  have  made  applica- 
tion for  authority  to  use  a  small  section  of  lower  Potomac  Park  for  an 
artillery  drill  field,  and  that  has  been  denied,  on  the  ground  that  it 
has  been  set  aside  by  Congress  for  a  recreation  space.  I  think  that 
when  the  young  men  of  the  District  are  giving  their  spare  time,  their 
recreation  time,  preparing  for  military  service,  it  would  not  be  any 
great  stretch  of  the  law  to  say  that  it  was  ecpially  proper  to  have 
them  use  a  part  of  that  space  for  that  purpose. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  is  nearly  as  important  as  to  use  it  for  base- 
ball, I  suppose  ? 

Gen.  Harvey.  Nearly  as  important  as  golf,  at  least.  I  had  hoped 
to  present  a  bill — which  now  probably  will  not  be  presented,  as  we 
have  been  ordered  out — asking  for  authority  to  use  8  acres  of  the 
lower  Potomac  Park  for  a  mounted  drill  field.  The  park  is  now  used 
for  polo  by  the  Army,  and  a  hockey  course  and  a  baseball  ground  has 
been  laid  off.  I  am  fully  in  sympathy  with  the  idea  of  maintaining 
it  as  a  great  park;  but  I  do  believe  that  it  would  not  mar  it  as  a  park 
to  let  our  artillery  driU  there,  and  I  believe  it  would  be  a  fine  exhibi- 
tion and  a  great  incentive  to  young  men  to  join  to  see  other  men 
engaged  in  military  exercises  there  as  their  recreatiion. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Was  your  plan  to  put  it  in  the  old  portion  of 
the  park  or  the  addition  ? 

Gen.  Harvey.  No,  sir;  down  below  the  railroad  bridge. 

Senator  Gallinger.  The  part  that  is  just  being  opened? 

Gen.  Harvey.  Yes,  sir.  Having  no  place  to  drill,  except  Fort 
Myer,  our  mounted  troops  have  been  forced  to  go  out  into  the  country. 
This  morning  I  got  a  letter  from  the  engineer  commissioner  giving  us 
permission  to  drill  out  near  the  Sixteenth  Street  reservoir — a  tem- 
porary arrangement.  We  should  have,  as  all  National  Guard  organi- 
zations throughout  the  States  should  have,  a  drill  shed  in  which  the 
mounted  organizations  shoidd  drill;  and  under  orders  from  the  War 
Department  we  have  increased  our  mounted  detachment  from  one 
mounted  battery  and  a  mounted  signal  company  to  two  batteries,  a 
signal  company,  and  a  troop  of  cavalry. 

We  have  had  the  tender  temporarily  of  the  use  of  the  Riding  Club's 
small  hall  for  our  cavalry  troop,  l)ut  that  is  not  available  for  artillery. 
I  hope  we  will  be  back  in  time  to  utilize  this.  We  may  not  be  back; 
but  I  think  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  make  provision  for  our  guard 


330  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPKOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

just  as  though  we  would  be  here  all  the  next  fiscal  year,  and  of  course 
if  we  are  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  probably  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  appropriation  will  be  actually  disbursed.  But  the 
contingency  always  exists  that  we  will  have  to  organize  additional 
troops;  and  I  therefore  suggest  that  the  amounts  estimated  for  be 
included  in  the  appropriation  just  as  though  we  were  going  to  remain 
here,  as  we  normally  do. 

There  was  one  thing  that  I  should  like  to  say  to  the  committee. 
I  came  up  the  other  day  when  I  found  we  were  confronted  with 
this  active  service  which  meant  immediate  action.  Our  District 
appropriations  have  been  reduced  to  S700  or  $800;  and  I  made  in- 
quiry, both  here  and  on  the  House  side,  as  whether  the  bill  should 
be  amended  so  that  amounts  appropriated  for  the  next  fiscal  year 
might  be  available  from  the  20th  of  June,  instead  of  the  30th.  Mr. 
Page,  the  chairman  of  the  subcommittee  in  the  House,  said  that  in 
his  judgment  the  better  plan  would  be  to  proceed  and  submit  it  as 
a  deficiency  estimate.  I  have  endeavored  to  observe  the  law  in 
regard  to  incurring  deficits,  and  I  do  not  want  to  submit  a  deficiency 
appropriation;  but  it  was  an  emergency  in  which  I  felt  justified  in 
going  ahead.  If  there  is  a  deficiency,  it  will  only  be  for  matters 
involving  the  mobilization  of  troops,  and  will  be  small. 

I  thank  you  very  much,  gentlemen. 

COLUMBIA    INSTITUTION    FOR    THE    DEAF. 

STATEMENT    OF    HON.  JOHN    F.   SHAFROTH,  A    SENATOR 
FROM    THE    STATE    OF    COLORADO. 

Senator  Shafeoth.  I  should  like  to  be  heard  for  a  few  moments 
on  the  Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf.  There  is  a  provision  in 
tlie  bill  at  page  52,  as  follows: 

For  expenses  attending  the  instruction  of  deaf  and  dumb  persons  admitted  to  the 
Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf  from  the  District  of  Columbia,  under  section  4864 
of  the  Revised  Statutes  and  as  provided  for  in  the  act  approved  jMarch  1,  1901,  and 
under  a  contract  to  be  entered  into  with  the  said  institution  by  the  commissioners, 
§12,250,  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary. 

I  am  a  director  of  that  institution,  and  conseciuently  they  have 
asked  me  to  present  this  matter  to  you.  They  have  had  a  few  more 
children  from  the  District  of  Columbia  than  the  amount  of  $400  per 
year  will  cover,  which  is  the  low  estimate  for  the  cost  of  it ;  and  they 
think  that  there  ought  to  be  an  addition  here,  so  as  to  make  it  $13,200. 

Senator  Dillingham.  The  commissioners  recommended  that  the 
other  day. 

Senator  Shafroth.  Did  they  recommend  it  ? 

Senate r  Dillingham.  I  have  a  memorandum  liere  that  they  did. 

Senator  Shafroth.  This  letter  says  that  they  thought  they  Avould 
do  that.  The  injustice  of  not  providing  sufficient  money  mJvkes  the 
Government  pr(nnde  for  these  children  at  its  own  cost,  and  not  nave 
the  expense  shared  by  the  District  of  Columl)ia;  and.  of  course,  as 
these  are  District  of  Colum!)ia  children,  it  seems  to  me  that  we  ought 
to  complv  with  the  recpiest  for  an  increase.  So  my  motion  is  to 
strike  out  the  '^$  12, 250"  and  to  insert,  in  lieu  thereof,  "$13,200." 


DISTKICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  331 

EXTENSION    OF    .MASSACHl  SETTS    AVENUE. 

STATEMENT  OF  B.  H.   WARNER,  JR. 

Mr.  Warner.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  wanted  to  spoak  for  a  ni;)mcnt  on 
beh?lf  of  the  extension  of  Massachusetts  Avenue  from  Nebraska 
Avenue  to  the  District  hue. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  you  represent  any  organization  of  any  kind  ? 

Mr.  Warner.  No,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  You  appear  in  your  individual  capacity  ? 

Mr.  Warner.  In  my  individual  capacity,  as  attorney  for  all  that 
section  out  there.     I  have  a  map  of  the  section  prepared. 

Senator  Smith.  You  appear  as  attorney  for  whom  ? 

Mr.  Warner.  I  appear  as  attorney  for  practically  all  the  property 
owners  interested  in  that  section. 

Senator  Smith.  It  is  a  street  you  are  asking,  is  it? 

Mr.  Warner.  It  is  Senator  Gallinger's  proposed  amendment  to  the 
District  appropriation  biU — an  amendment  that  proposes  an  appro- 
priation of  S30,000.  or  so  much  thereof  as  may  be  necessary,  to  be 
expended  for  the  grading  and  improving  of  this  street. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Which  street  are  you  speaking  of  i 

Mr.  Warner.  Massachusetts  Avenue,  Senator.  That  is  the  street 
which  you  put  that  railroad  out  for  the  university  a  few  years  ago. 

Senator  GALLiNCiER.  That  is,  it  takes  it  from  Nebraska  Avenue  to 
the  District  line.     What  distance  is  that,  Mr.  Warner'^ 

Mr.  Warner.  Just  about  6,200  feet,  I  think. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  opens  up  that  territory  alongside  of  the 
Methodist  University  I 

Mr.  Warner.  Alongside  of  the  Methodist  University.  Eighteen 
hundred  feet  on  either  side  of  the  avenue  is  owned  by  the  Methodist 
University.  Some  seven  years  ago  Massachusetts  Avenue  was  con- 
demned, and  the  Methodist  University  was  assessed,  on  either  side, 
benefits  to  the  extent  of  $11,000.  Those  benefits  they  have  just  re- 
cently paid,  although  there  is  no  way  in  which  they  can  gain  entrance 
to  tlieir  property  fronting  on  Massachusetts  Avenue.  Mrs.  Somers 
is  just  about  to  start  the  construction  of  the  Mount  Vernon  Seminary 
on  Nebraska  Avenue  here  at  a  cost  of  approximately  $350,000; 
$150,000  she  obtains  from  the  American  Security  and  Trust  Co.; 
$100,000  is  subscribed  by  Mrs.  Hensley  and  herself,  and  the  students 
of  that  university  and  alumni,  of  whom  my  sister  is  one,  have  sub- 
scribed another  $'lOO,000. 

Gentlemen,  the  value  of  this  property  on  the  assessment  books  of 
the  District  of  Columbia  is  upward  of  $800,000.  This  property 
would  be  directly  benefited  by  the  improvement  of  this  street.  The 
matter  has  been  up  before  the  commissioners  year  in  and  year  out. 
The  only  objection  that  the  connnissioners  have  to  it,  as  1  understand, 
is  that  they  did  not  feel  that  mv)re  than  $200,000  should  be  exi^ended 
on  county  roads.  I  was  talking  with  the  chairman  of  the  present 
board  of  commissioners  last  niglit  in  New  York.  Mr.  Newman  said 
that  he  hoped  Massachusetts  Avenue  would  be  gracUvl  and  macad- 
amized. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Has  the  right  of  way  been  donated  ? 

Mr,  W^arner.  The  right  of  way  has  been  donated  in  part  and 
where  it  has  not  been  clonatcd  it  has  been  condemned,  and  benefits 


332  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

have  been  assessed  back  against  the  property  owners  to  the  extent 
of  some  $30,000  or  $40,000. 

Senator  Gallinger.  And  those  benefits  in  some  instances  have 
been  paid  and  yet  there  is  no  develo})ment  ;' 

Mr.  Warner.  All  have  been  paid,  but  there  is  no  development. 

Senator  Dillinham.  To  what  extent  did  vou  sav,  Mr.  Warner? 

Mr.  Warner.  The  benefits? 

Senator  Dillinham.  Yes. 

Mr.  Warner.  Between  thirty  and  forty  thousand  dollars.  I  can 
not  carry  it  in  my  head. 

Senator  Smith.  Contemplating  the  extension  ? 

Mr.  Warner.  Contemplating  the  extension  of  the  avenue.  I 
might  say  that  the  property  along  the  avenue  is  assessed  at  from 
IS  to  30  cents  per  square  foot,  and  these  people  have  no  way  of  gain- 
ing access  to  or  egress  from  their  property. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  am  familiar  with  it. 

Mr.  Warner.  In  addition  to  that,  I  might  say  that  before  Senator 
Dillingham  was  interested  in  the  railroad  extension  there,  which  w^as 
largely  for  the  benefit  of  the  property  owners  in  the  university,  prop- 
erty' owners  back  here  [indicating  on  map]  contributed  and  paid  to 
the  District  of  Columbia  amounts  sufficient  to  build  a  roadway;  and 
along  came  the  railroad,  chanwina  the  grade  in  some  places  20  feet, 
and  destroying  the  roadway  wliicli  the  property  owners  had  built. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  is  an  ugly  railroad  going  out  Massa- 
chusetts Avenue. 

Mr.  W^arner.  It  is  an  ugly  railroad,  but  in  its  present  shape  the 
property  owners  have  no  way  of  getting  to  their  property.  They 
have  no  benefits  at  all. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  seemed  to  me  it  might  have  been  widened, 
and  the  railroad  put  on  at  one  side  of  that  beautiful  avenue  in  place 
of  running  it  right  in  the  middle  of  it. 

Senator  Smith.  It  is  a  street  railway,  is  it  ( 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

GRADING    AND   MACADAMIZING    OF    PORTLAND    STREET. 

Mr.  Warner.  The  other  proposition  that  I  want  to  speak  to  you 
about,  gentlemen,  is  with  respect  to  Senator  Oliver's  proposed  amend- 
ment a])propriationg  $30,000  for  the  grading  and  macadamizing  of 
Portland  Street. 

Senator  Gallinger.  That  is  not  estimated  for,  is  it  ( 

Mr.  Warner.  That  is  not  estimated  for,  and  neither  is  this  other. 

Senator  Gallinger.  This  is  over  in  Anacostia  ? 

Mr.  Warner.  This  is  in  Anacostia.  The  amendment  provides 
that  $30,000  shall  be  expended  in  grading  and  improving  that  street. 
$10,500  of  that  amount  has  been  put  in  tlie  District  appropriation 
biU  by  the  House  committee,  and  tlie  reason  why  the  entire  amount 
was  not  put  in  was  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the  engineer  depart- 
ment that  a  year  should  elapse  between  the  grading  and  macadamiz- 
mg  of  this  street.  In  answer  to  that  I  dare  say  there  is  no  section 
of  the  country  where  conditions  prevail  as  they  do  out  here.  This 
road  would  be  of  direct  benefit  to  the  employees  and  to  the  property 
of  the  Washington  Steel  &  Ordnance  Co.,  which  I  represent. 

Senator  Gallinger.  At  Giesboro  Point  i 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1!)17.  333 

Mr.  Warner.  At  Giesboro  Point.  That  corporation  came  to  the 
banks  of  the  Potomac  some  10  years  ago  at  the  instance  of  Army  and 
Xavy  officers,  and  they  built  a  phmt  of  a  million  and  a  half  dollars. 
It  has  been  in  active  operation  for  the  past  10  years,  running,  I  might 
say,  24  hours  6  (hiys  a  week.  Tliey  immediately  started  to  get,  or 
tried  to  get,  permission  from  the  District  people  to  build  a  branch 
radroad  down  there,  as  they  had  no  way  of  getting  their  help  down 
there.  It  took  them  eight  years,  I  might  say,  before  ( 'ongress  in  its  wis- 
dom,over  the  protestof  the  commissioners, gave  them  this  railroad  down 
there.  The  steel  plant  built  the  railroad  at  an  expense  of  some  forty- 
odd  thousand  dollars,  and  turned  it  over  to  the  Washington  Railway 
&  Electric  Co.  We  have  built  a  private  roadway  down  from  Trenton 
Street  to  the  steel  plant  at  the  expense  of  the  steel  compaii}-,  which,  I 
might  say,  is  used  by  all  the  truck  gardeners  and  natives  in  that 
section.  The  disadvantage  of  that  street  is  that  the  grade  is  10^  per 
cent,  almost  too  much  to  permit  of  any  kind  of  traffic  m  wet  weather. 
The  grade  on  Portland  Street,  the  maximum  grade,  would  be  8  per 
cent.  In  addition  to  that,  it  makes  almost  a  half  a  mile  difference. 
At  the  present  time  this  steel  company  is  the  largest  employer  of 
labor  in  and  around  the  city  of  Washington,  employing  3,000  hands. 
It  is  one  of  the  largest  taxpayers  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  it 
has  received  no  benefits  of  any  kind  in  returm  for  those  taxes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Where  do  those  laborers  live  ( 

Ml-.  Warner.  Senator,  a  large  number  of  those  laborers  live  in 
your  State.  This  road  woukl  increase  the  efficiency  of  people  coming 
to  and  from  work.  I  will  give  you  an  example.  Working  in  three 
shifts,  of  course,  on  the  change  of  shifts  there  is  bound  to  be  conges- 
tion. We  run  those  cars  out  there  on  15  seconds'  headway  to  accom- 
modate those  people  coming  and  going.  But  still  there  is  grat  con- 
gestion. A  car  ran  off  the  tracks  about  two  months  ago.  They 
have  run  off  since  then,  but  I  am  citing  this  as  an  example.  One  of 
those  cars,  filled  up,  carrying  over  a  hundred  passengers,  ran  off  the 
track.  It  would  have  taken  an  hour  or  an  hour  and  a  half  before 
the}"  could  have  gotten  that  car  back  on  the  track,  so  they  started 
to  walk.  Two  of  the  men  on  that  day  slipped  and  fell  and  dislocated 
their  ankles,  and  the  company  since  that  time  has  been  carrying 
those  men  on  their  rolls.     They  are  in  no  way  responsible. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  was  the  cause  of  the  accident  ? 

Mr.  Warner.  Because  there  is  no  way  to  walk  up  there  except 
on  this  right-of-way  of  the  railroad.  We  warned  the  commissioners 
repeatedly,  importuned  them  to  please  see  that  nobody  was  allowed 
to  walk  up  there.  We  have  even  gone  to  work  and  at  our  own 
expense  posted  notices  at  either  end  of  the  road  for  men  to  keep  off, 
but  there  is  no  possible  way  to  keep  them  off  in  case  of  an  accident. 
In  all  regulated  plants  it  is  the  desire  to  have  efficiency,  of  course, 
but  there  are  bound  to  be  accidents.  W^hen  we  have  an  accident 
down  there  of  a  serious  character  we  have  to  send  clear  around  the 
city  to  one  of  the  hospitals  to  come  down  there  through  this  dan- 
gerous roadway,  down  to  the  plant,  and  they  have  to  do  the  best 
they  can.  Of  course  that  would  all  be  eliminated  with  the  grading 
and  improving  of  Portland  Street.  Where  the  accident  is  not  so 
severe  we  have  temporary  quarters  there  where  we  can  keep  the  men, 
either  until  the  next  morning  or  until  they  recover  sufficiently  to  be 
brought  here. 


334  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  the  road 
that  is  now  used  in  getting  to  and  from  this  place  is  in  such  condition 
that  it  is  a  menace  to  life  ? 

Mr.  Warner.  I  say  that  it  is  dangerous  to  life  and  limb  for  people 
to  go  down  that  Trenton  Place  road  on  wet  days,  or  any  other  day  or 
any  other  night,  as  far  as  that  is  concerned,  because  the  commis- 
sioners recently  changed  the  grade  of  Nichols  Avenue,  and  it  has 
precipitated  wash  on  either  side  of  this  roadway  of  ours,  and  I  sl^^uld 
say  m  some  places  we  have  gullies  of  8  or  10  feet. 

Senator  Curtis.  How  many  men  do  you  employ  there  ? 

Mr.  Warxer.  Three  tliousand  men. 

Senator  Curtis.  Running  full  capacity  six  days  in  a  week,  you 
say  ^ 

Mr.  Warxer.  Yes,  sh. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  take  it  that  the  benefits  to  the 
District  of  Columbia  are  greater  on  account  of  the  amount  of  labor 
employed  than  the  taxes  they  pay,  a  great  deal.  Do  I  understand 
you  that  they  have  never  received  any  encouragement  from  the 
District  of  Columbia,  that  whatever  improvements  have  been  made 
with  a  view  to  getting  their  labor  to  and  from  these  works  have  been 
done  by  themselves,  and  at  their  own  expense,  includmg  this  street 
railway,  which  they  have  turned  over  without  any  pay  ( 

Mr.  Warxer.  Without  any  compensation  whatsoever. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Without  any  compensation  to  the  rail- 
way company? 

Mr.  Warxer.  Yes,  sir.  For  years  we  ran  a  ferryboat  across  from 
the  foot  of  Seventh  Street  to  our  plant.  We  charged  the  men  5  cents, 
and  of  course  the  ferry  cost  was  more  than  5  cents,  but  the  company 
paid  the  difference.  A  few  years  ago  Paul  Bernard's  yacht  ran  into 
this  ferryboat  and  disabled  it  m  such  a  way  that  we  had  to  put  it  in 
dry  dock  down  at  Newport  News,  and  we  found  that  it  would  have 
to  be  there  so  long  that  we  v\-ould  have  to  fuid  some  other  means,  so 
we  transported  our  men  as  best  we  could  until  the  raih"oad  was  fui- 
ished.  Since  that  time  we  have  discontmued  the  ferryboat,  because 
it  was  disabled  and  cost  really  more  than  it  was  worth. 

I  might  say,  furthermore,  that  at  the  time  Portland  Street  was  con- 
demned under  the  act  of  Congress  the  steel  plant  paid  all  of  the 
benefits  that  were  assessed  against  eveiy  property  owner  along  there, 
because  we  did  not  wish  to  precipitate  any  ill  feeling,  although  we 
were  not  compelled  to  do  that.  We  paid  for  the  moving  of  the 
houses,  and  we  have  told  the  commissioners  that  just  as  soon  as  this 
street  is  graded  we  want  them  to  put  in  a  sidewalk  at  our  expense, 
anything  to  relieve  the  congestion  that  exists  there  at  rush  hours. 

In  answer  to  the  assertion  of  the  commissioners  that  a  3-ear  sliould 
elapse  between  the  gradhig  and  macadamizing  of  a  street,  I  would  like 
to  submit  that  modern  road  building  does  not  justify  a  year  elapsing 
where  there  is  no  great  amount  of  traflic.  But  over  this  ioa(!way, 
when  graded,  there  would  ])e  innnediately  traffic.  I  should  sny  500 
vehicles  a  day  wouhl  go  to  and  fro.  We  have  in  our  establishment 
there  some  40*^  or  50  machines,  that  inin  from  the  Ford  automobile  to  a 
5-ton  truck,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  at  some  seasons  to  get  those 
machines  up  that  hill.  I  took  the  subcommittee  in  the  House  down 
there,  and  it  happened  to  be  a  rainy  day.  We  were  stuck  on  the  hill, 
even  in  a  Ford  car. 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  335 

Senator  Smith  of  Marvlund.  Did  3-011  go  bofore  the  House  commit- 
tee? 

Mr.  Warner.  I  wont  boforo  the  House  committoo  and  the  House 
committee  put  in  the  appropriation  of  S  10,500  at  the  instance  of  the 
commissioners. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.     What  taxes  do  you  pay  ( 

Mr.  Warner.  We  pay  over  $14,000  annuall}-  on  our  real  i)r()perty 
for  the  steel  plant  ])roperty  alone 

Senator  Smith  of  ^laryland.  What  is  the  amount  of  your  pay^  roll? 

Mr.  Warner.  Of  course,  I  am  just  speaking  ofl'hand,  but  I  should 
say  the  present  pay  roll  was  somethhig  like  S52,000  a  week.  I  might 
say  in  this  connection,  gentlemen,  that  it  was  necessary  for  us 
recently  to  enlarge  the  plant  down  there.  Although  we  have  400 
acres  of  ground,  owing  to  this  congested  condition  we  went  down 
Nichols  Avenue  a  half  mile  farther  and  purchased  34  acres  of 
ground,  so  that  it  would  relieve  this  congested  condition,  and  we  are 
now  expending  over  S  100,000  in  improvements  there  on  other  ground, 
simply  because  we  had  to  get  on  a  thoroughfare. 

The  principal  business  that  we  are  engaged  in  at  the  present  time 
is  the  manufacture  of  ordnance.  Before  the  war  broke  out  we  were 
manufacturing  many  kinds  of  high-grade  steel — crank  shafts  for 
automobiles,  and  various  kinds  of  foundry  work. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  What  is  your  business  hi  normal 
times  ? 

Mr.  Warner.  Ordnance  and  high-grade  steel.  I  might  say  that 
the  plant  dowai  there  and  its  personnel  is  second  to  none  in  the  country, 
and  that  same  applies  to  the  European  countries.  Those  in  charge 
are  recognized  as  experts  in  their  line,  and  the  high-grade  steel,  the 
block-steel  industry  in  this  country,  is  in  its  infancy,  and  whatever 
development  takes' place  will  be  largely  guided  by  tlie  men  who  are 
in  control,  who  are  at  the  head  of  the  Washington  Steel  &  Ordnance. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  it  is  a  pros- 
perous enterprise.  As  you  have  done  all  that  3'ou  peo])le  can  do  in 
order  to  develop  it,  in  making  a  street  you  feel  that  that  it  is  some- 
thing you  can  not  do,  even  if  you  are  willing  to  expend  the  money 
for  it. 

Mr.  Warner.  We  feel  that  we  have  spent  over  $200,000  in  beau- 
tifying our  place  there  and  building  roadways  of  one  kind  and  an- 
other, and  building  a  wharf,  but  when  it  comes  to  connecting  up  a 
road  of  not  more  than  6,000  feet,  passing  through  property  on  either 
side  that  does  not  belong  to  us,  and  in  which  we  are  in  no  way  inter- 
ested, when  that  expenditure  simply  calls  for  $20,000,  it  is  up  to  the 
abutting  property  owners  or  to  Congress  or  to  the  local  author- 
ities, to  give  us  at  least  that  much  assistance. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  take  it  for  granted  3'ou  would  have 
no  authority  to  do  this  as  a  corporation? 

Mr.  Warner.  We  would  have  no  authority  to  do  it. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Even  if  you  felt  disposed  to  ? 

Mr.  Warner.  Even  if  we  felt  disposed  to.  If  the  committee  would 
like  to  go  down  there  at  any  time,  we  should  like  very  much  to  have 
you  see  what  we    re  doing. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  think  we  understand  the  situation. 


336  DISIKICI    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

STATEMENT  OF  J.  J.  DARLINGTON,  ESQ.,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C, 
REPRESENTING  THE  WASHINGTON  GAS  LIGHT  CO. 

COST    OF    GAS    IN    PUBLIC    BUILDINGS. 

Mr.  Darlington.  Mr.  Chairman,  on  behalf  of  the  Washmgton 
Gas  Light  Co.  we  would  like  to  submit  some  considerations  in  respect 
to  section  6  of  the  act.  That  provides  that  no  part  of  any  money 
appropriated  by  this  or  any  other  act  shall  be  used  for  payment  to 
the  Washington  Gas  Light  Co.  or  Georgetown  Gas  Light  Co.  for  any 
gas  furnished  by  them  for  the  use  of  the  public  buildings  of  the 
United  States  or  the  District  of  Columbia  at  a  rate  in  excess  of  70 
cents  per  thousand  cubic  feet. 

We  have  three  objections  to  that  section.  The  first  is  that  the 
Public  Utilities  Commission  act  reposes  in  that  commission  the 
power  and  duty  of  fixing  uniform  rates,  and  we  would  think  it  ought 
to  be  left  to  that  commission  to  do  that. 

In  the  second  place,  the  same  public  utilities  act  in  paragraph  81 
makes  it  a  misdemeanor  for  the  officers  of  these  companies  to  furnish 
any  person,  firm,  or  corporation  gas  at  a  greater  or  less  compensation 
than  others.  So  it  creates  a  question  whether  this  woidd  not  lower 
the  rate  to  everybody  to  70  cents  per  thousand  cubic  feet. 

In  the  third  place,  this  identical  provision,  or  one  to  the  same 
effect,  was  passed  by  the  House  in  connection  with  the  legislative 
bill,  was  considered  by  the  Senate  committee,  and  the  commissioners 
were  interrogated  about  it.  I  read  from  page  10  of  the  hearing  on 
the  legislative  bill: 

Senator  Overman.  How  are  you  getting  on  with  the  gas  company?  Have  you 
reached  a  conclusion? 

Commission?r  Kutz.  Xo,  sir;  but  we  expect  to  reach  a  finding  as  to  vahiation 
within  three  months,  and  by  tlie  1st  of  July  we  anticipate  that  we  will  be  able  to 
present  the  valuation  of  our  experts  to  the  companies  for  a  hearing,  to  determine  the 
"  fair  valu? "  of  the  property  of  the  companies. 

Senator  Smoot.  Let  me  ask  you  if  this  provision  in  the  House  bill — 

That  is  the  one  fixing  it  at  70  cents  for  pubhc  buildings — 

in  any  way  conflicts  with  the  public-utilities  law  passed  by  Congress?     Does  it  con- 
flict with  paragraphs  81  and  38  and  41? 

Those  are  the  ones  that  make  it  a  misdemeanor  to  make  any  dis- 
crimination to  any  person  in  the  price  of  gas. 

Commi.ssioner  Kutz.  In  a  sense  it  does,  in  that  it  apparently  takes  away  from  the 
utilities  commission  a  power  that  Congress  has  lodged  in  that  commission;  and  I  feel 
that  the  commission's  hands  would  be  tied  with  respect  to  that  kind  of  service  if, 
subsequent  to  the  passage  of  the  law.  Congress  fixed  a  price  for  a  particular  use. 

Senator  Smoot.  That  is  what  I  wanted  to  know  of  you. 

Senator  Overm.\n.  Your  idea  is  that  it  would  be  better  to  wait,  and  let  the  Public 
Utilities  Commission  fix  it? 

Commissioner  Kutz.  Yes,  sir;  that  it  would  be  very  much  better  to  wait. 

Without  reading  further,  the  Senate'  committee  sustained  that 
view,  the  provision  was  stricken  out  of  the  House  bill,  and  the  con- 
ferees acceded  to  it.  This  is  a  proposition  to  reintroduce  it.  not  only 
as  to  the  District,  but  in  other  acts,  in  which  it  has  been  expressly 
excluded.  On  those  three  grounds  we  think  this  particular  section 
ouo;ht  to  be  ehminated  from  the  bill. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Has  there  been  any  investigation  by 
the  Public  Utilities  Commission  to  ascertain  what  is  a  fair  price  ? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPETATIOX    BILL,  1017.  337 

Mr.  Darlington.  It  is  stated  hore  that  l)y  the  Ist  of  July  thoy  will 
have  completed  their  investigation. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  They  are  investigating  now,  as  I 
understand. 

Mr.  Darlington.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Reeside.  Senator,  I  think  their  investigation  is  about  com- 
pleted. They  expect  to  finish  it  in  a  few  days.  They  have  been 
working  on  it  for  a  year  or  more,  and  it  is  about  completed. 

Mr.  Darlington.  That,  I  think,  is  all  I  care  to  say. 

Senator  Gallinger.  After  which  time  if  that  finding  is  accepted 
and  litigation  does  not  ensue,  the  Pubhc  Utilities  Commission  will 
proceed  upon  that  basis  to  determine  what  a  fair  rate  is. 

Mr.  Reeside.  To  fix  the  rate. 

Mr.  Darlington.  And  even  if  litigation  does  ensue  the  Public 
Utihties  Commission  act  provides  that  the  rate  fixed  by  the  commis- 
sion shall  be  in  force  until  the  court  disturbs  it. 

improvement    of    square    857. 

STATEMENT  OF  CHARLES  W.  CLAGETT,  ESQ.,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Wliom  do  you  represent,  Mr.  Clagett? 

Mr.  Clagett.  Mr.  Chairman  and  Senators,  I  represent  the  prop- 
erty owners  in  square  857,  bounded  by  Sixth  and  Seventh,  L  and  K 
Streets  XE.,  just  a  short  distance  from  here. 

We  come  before  you  on  this  proposition.  On  February  12,  1901, 
Congress  passed  an  act  for  the  elimination  of  grade  crossings,  and 
among  the  grade  crossings  to  be  eliminated  was  the  Washington 
branch  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  running  for  about  10,000 
feet  through  certain  sc[uares  to  Winthrop  Heights.  In  that  act  pro- 
vision was  made  that  the  title  should  be  taken  in  the  United  States, 
and  that  this  property  may  be  used  for  a  street  or  avenue.  As  soon 
as  the  railroad  was  removed,  the  District  of  Columbia  acting,  of 
course,  under  authority  of  Congress,  proceeded  to  improve  all  of 
that  right  of  way,  except  that  portion  going  through  square  857,  as 
West  Virginia  Avenue.  Some  little  places  they  used  as  parkingS) 
where  it  would  not  be  proper  to  use  it  as  an  avenue,  but  it  was  im- 
proved as  West  Virginia  Avenue,  and  the  square  was  practically  un- 
improved at  that  time.  Builders  proceeded  to  purchase  the  land 
surrounding  that  square,  this  60-foot  line  running  diagonally  througli 
the  entire  square.  They  erected  substantial,  neat,  and  modern  two- 
story  buildings,  buildings  to  sell  for  84,000  to  §4,500,  I  assume,  and 
reprt^sented  that  it  was  going  to  be  opened  as  a  street  or  avenue 
right  through  the  middle.  The  property  owners  bought  u]>on  that 
representation,  and  relying  upon  the  improvement  of  the  balance  of 
the  street,  assuming  that  this  portion  would  be  improved,  and  also 
the  statement  made  in  the  appropriation  that  it  may  be  used  as  a 
street  or  avenue. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Mr.  Clagett,  let  me  ask  you  this.  Does  the 
statute  relating  to  the  elimination  of  grade  crossings  in  terms  state 
that  they  shall  be  made  into  a  street  or  avenue  ? 

!Mr.  Clagett.  It  says  "may  be  used."     I  was  using  that  purposely 
because   that  was  the  language.     The  propert}"  ovrrers,   how'^ver, 
45737—16 22 


338  :)1>TRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  V<\1. 

were  relying  upon  the  construction  of  the  act  by  the  District  com- 
missioners in  opening  all  the  balance  of  that  street  as  West  Virginia 
Avenue,  and  assuming  that  thej^were  gomg  to  oi>en  this,  and,  of  course, 
relying  upon  the  representations  made  by  the  builders,  founded  upon 
the  language  of  the  act. 

Senator  Gallixger.  They  did  open  a  portion  of  this  territory? 

Ml-.  Clagett.  They  opened  all  of  it,  9,000  feet.  Tliere  is  about 
900  feet  of  this.  The  title  was  taken  in  the  United  States  neces- 
sarily, for  the  reason,  as  you  know,  Senator  Galhrger,  that  the  title 
of  streets  in  the  Eistrict  is  in  the  United  States,  because  it  was  the 
ii-tention  of  Congress  that  it  should  be  used  as  a  street  or  avenue. 

About  five  years  ago  the  District  of  Columbia,  without  any  action 
on  the  part  of  Congi-ess,  established  a  property  yard  in  that  space, 
60  feet  wide,  running  through  this  entire  square,  for  the  storage  of 
broken  concrete,  old  bricks,  and  such  rough  material  as  that.  There 
ha^e  been  going  into  the  square  from  15  to  20  wagons  a  day.  They 
use  it  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  up  their  concrete,  and  the  men  who 
are  employed  to  break  it  at  so  much  a  yard  commen.ce  at  half  past 
4  in  the  morning  in  the  summer  time,  as  soon  as  it  is  light  enough 
to  work,  and  keep  it  up  until  it  is  dark. 

The  people  who  live  in  that  square  are  all  property  o^^^lers.  There 
are  only  three  tenants  in  there.  All  the  others  are  men  who  own 
their  own  houses,  and  they  have  to  keep  their  back  windows  shut 
in  the  summer  time  to  keep  out  the  dust  and  noise,  and  they  can  not 
keep  it  out  that  way.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  profanity  and  obscenit}" 
used  by  the  drivers  of  these  teams  and  the  men  who  are  working  in 
the  yards,  and  it  is  almost  an  intolerable  nuisance. 

In  that  situation  I  was  emplo3'ed  and  took  the  matter  up  before 
Col.    Kutz.     The   matter  had   been   presented   before   that   by   the 

S'operty  owners,  and  there  was  a  pile  of  papers  of  protest  in  the 
istrict  Building.  I  took  it  up  with  Col.  Kutz,  and  we  proposed 
that  they  open  it  up  as  a  street.  We  did  not  particularly  care  for 
that,  but  if  they  would  just  open  up  the  necessary  and  usual  alleys 
through  that  square,  donate  those  alleys,  the  property  owners  in 
that  square  would  pay  them  the  fair  market  value — of  couree,  it 
goes  to  the  United  States  or  the  District,  just  as  you  see  fit — of  the 
property.  Col.  Kutz  said  that  he  sympathized  very  much  with  the 
situation  of  these  people  out  there;  that  he  reahzed  they  had  gone  in 
under  an  impression  that  the  street  was  going  to  be  opened  under 
the  act:  and  that  they  had  built  substantial  homes  and  were  tax- 
pa3'ers,  considerable  taxpayers,  and  he  had  great  sympathy  for 
them,  and  that  he  woidd  try  to  work  out  some  scheme  which  would 
relieve  them.     1  am  trying  to  paraphrase  what  he  said. 

I  pro])osed  then  that  he  prepare  a  bill  to  allow  us  to  purchase  the 
property.     He  had  this  plat  made  and  drafted  a  bill  to  present  to 
congress  to  cany  out  the  proposition  to  allow  the  ])roperty  owners  to 
buy  this  property  at  its  full  value,  the  District  laying  off.  before  it  is 
taken,  such  alleys  as  they  would  deem  proper.     The  l)ill  was  drafted 
in  the  office  of  the  corporation  counsel,  the  report  was  made  to  Col. 
Kutz.  and  the  biU  and  the  draft  wore  presented  to  the  conunissioners,  , 
..nd  they  approved  it,  and  Col.  Kutz,  writing  to  me,  said  that  if  it  j 
was  passed  they  were  entirely  satisfied,  l)ut  they  would  not  take  the  j 
initiative,  that  I  would  have  to  take  the  initiative.     At  that  time  they  ! 
put  in  this  appropriation  bill  on  page  28  a  provision  to  establish  a 


i\ 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  339 

warehouse  on  one  end  of  this  alley  for  the  electrieal  dej)artnient,  and 
he  said  of  eonrse  if  this  goes  through  lliat  will  have  to  go  out. 

In  that  situation  I  went  up  to  see  Mr.  Page,  the  chairman  of  tho^ 
District  Committee.  Mr.  Page  said  that  he  had  completed  his  report 
and  that  he  did  not  want  to  make  any  changes  in  it  at  all  at  that  time. 
It  had  been  gone  into  too  late.  But  he  said,  "I  can  not  speak  for  the 
other  members  of  the  committee,  but  I  think  I  express  their  opinion. 
I  personally  am  in  favor  of  ]Hitting  this  appropriation  in  the  ])iU,  and 
you  see  Senator  Smith,  and  I  do  not  think  you  will  have  any  trouble 
about  it.  The  situation  is  certainly  one  tliat  requires  consideration." 
That  is  what  he  said  about  it.  I  have  brought  four  or  live  of  the 
property  owners  here. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Please  designate  here  on  this  plat 
what  it  is  you  want  us  to  do. 

Mr.  Clagett.  Here,  running  through  the  scjuare,  is  this  old  right 
of  way-  On  that  old  right  of  way  the  District  has  put  up  a  vv-all  with 
a  gate  in  it,  and  they  are  hauling  this  concrete  and  old  brick  and  all 
kinds  of  rough  stuff  in  there  and  dunij^ing  it  and  mashing  it  up  and 
hauling  it  out.  They  use  it  as  a  property  yard  or  a  storage  A^ard  and 
also  as  a  manufacturing  place  for  mashing  uj)  this  concrete  for  use  on 
the  streets. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  \Ylicre  has  it  been  opened? 

Mr.  Clagett.  Wlien  they  came  here  [indicating  on  plat]  the  build- 
ers built  aU  around  the  square. 

Senator  Dillingham.  On  the  north  and  on  the  east  side? 

Mr.  Clagett.  There  are  about  three  or  four  old  houses  that  were 
there  before,  but  they  built  u])  this  square,  relying  on  the  fact  that 
that  wouUl  be  a  street  through  there. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Do  you  mean  just  as  it  is  ? 

Mr.  Clagett.  That  was  the  old  right  of  way.  They  were  relying 
upon  the  fact  that  that  would  be  opened  up  as  a  street.  The  balance 
of  it,  out  there  that  way  [indicating],  was  opened  up  as  a  street. 
Altogether  10,000  feet  was  opened  up. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  This  connects  with  a  street  that  is 
already  opened  ? 

Mr.  Clagett.  Right  east  of  Sixth  Street  there  is  a  little  parking. 
Then  they  would  go  ahead  and  run  a  street  along.  Pretty  soon  they 
would  come  to  a  place  where  it  would  bisect  in  such  a  way  that  it 
would  not  open  up,  and  they  would  put  a  parking  or  something. 
About  900  feet  in  length  and  about  60  feet  in  width  is  what  has  been 
improved.  Wliat  we  want  to  do,  and  what  Col.  Kutz  recoiumends, 
is  to  open  up  this  alley.  There  is  a  pu})lic  alley  already,  but  open  up 
an  alley  in  there  like  that  [indicating],  and  then  sell  to  tlie  property 
owners  coming  out  to  the  alley  all  this  land  in  here  at  the  fair  market 
value. 

Senator  Dillingham.  You  mean  the  land  within  the  riglit  of  way  ? 

Mr.  Clagett.  Within  the  right  of  way.  vSell  it  at  a  fair  market 
price,  which  would  be  about  $11,000  to  S12,000. 

Senator  Gallinger.  But  not  open  it  as  a  street  ? 

Mr.  Clagett.  Not  open  it  as  a  street,  because  these  houses  in  there 
take  up  all  the  ground.  If  you  open  it  up  as  a  street,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  would  just  be  the  ))ack  yards  through  there,  and  it  would 
serve  no  particularly  useful  purpose,  because  we  run  down  there. 


340  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

They  could  not  opon  it  any  farther,  and  it  would  serve  no  useful 
])urpose. 

Senator  Dillingham.  If  sold  to  the  owners  of  the  houses  on  north 
I  and  south  K,  it  would  simply  become  the  rear  portion  of  their  lots? 

Ml-.  Clagett.  The  rear  portion  of  their  lots,  and  here  the}-  have 
very  shallow  lots. 

Senator  Dillingham.  That  is  to  say,  on  north  I  Street  they  have 
shallow  lots,  and  on  south  K  Street  they  have  shallow  lots  ? 

Mr.  Clagett.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Dillingham.  At  opposite  ends  ( 

Mr.  Clagett.  Yes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  AMiere  does  the  title  rest? 

Mr.  Clagett.  In  the  United  States.  But  the  District  paid  one- 
half  of  it.  The  appropriation  bill  provided  that  the  District  should 
pay  one-half,  but  the  title  is  in  the  United  States.  We  are  very 
desirous  at  any  time  of  taking  some  of  you  gentlemen  who  could 
afford  to  go  over  there  to  see  the  situation. 

Senator  Gallinger.  One  member  of  our  committee  at  least  has 
been  there.  Senator  Curtis,  and  we  will  take  his  word  for  it. 

Mr.  Clagett.  Sometimes  the  situation  is  worse  than  at  other 
times.  It  just  depends  on  when  they  are  doing  much  work.  I  would 
like  to  read  a  letter  from  Col.  Kutz,  and  then  I  am  through. 

Mr.  Charles  W.  Clagett. 

Fendall  Building,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Dear  Sir:  Referring  to  your  letter  of  March  22  to  the  office  of  the  engineer  commis- 
sioner regarding  the  purchase  of  land  included  Avithin  the  lines  of  the  old  right  of  way 
of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  Co.  through  square  857,  I  am  directed  'by  the  com- 
missioners to  advise  you  as  follows: 

The  commissioners  would  not  be  averse  to  the  passage  of  legislation  by  (~'ongi-ess 
authorizing  them  to  sell  such  portion  of  this  old  right  of  way  as  may  not  be  needed  for 
the  purpose  of  providing  an  extension  of  the  alley  sj'stem  in  said  square,  under  certain 
conditions  which  are  outlined  in  a  draft  of  I  ill  which  they  inclose  herewith.  The 
alley  system  proposed  is  indicated  in  color  on  the  inclosed  tracing. 
Verj-  respectfully, 

The  Board  of  Commissioxers  of  the  District  of  (  olumbia, 
By  D.  J.  Donovan,  Secretary. 

Mr.  Clagett.  In  other  words,  it  aU  comes  from  the  commis- 
sioners, and  they  say  they  are  not  adverse  to  it,  but  they  would  not 
make  it  their  personal  matter. 

Senator  Gallinger.  You  never  had  a  bill  introduced,  did  you? 

Mr.  Clagett.  No.  A  situation  developed  in  the  House,  and  I 
asked  Mr.  Page  to  advise  me  what  would  be  the  wisest  thing.  He 
said,  "If  you  introduce  a  bill  you  can  accomphsh  nothing,  but  if  you 
would  just  cut  out  the  enacting  clause  and  put  the  substance  of  it  in 
an  amendment  and  take  it  over  to  Senator  Smith,  I  am  in  favor  of 
it,  and  I  am  certain  Senator  Smith  will  put  it  on  the  bill.  But  I  can 
not  do  it.  because  my  bill  is  already  com])leted.'' 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Does  the  language,  "such  portions," 
meet  your  ideas  ? 

Mr.  Clagett.  Such  portions  as  might  not  be  used  for  an  alley. 
The  idea  in  the  bill,  as  I  understand  it,  is  to  sell  us  aU  of  it  that  is  not 
used  for  an  alley.     It  says : 

Authorized  to  sell  the  land  contained  in  the  old  right  of  way  of  the  Baltimore  & 
Ohio  Railroad  (  o.  within  the  limits  of  square  859  at  a  price  to  be  fixed  by  the  said 
commissioners,  liased  upon  the  true  value  of  the  land  as  determined  by  the  assistant 
assessors  of  the  District  of  (  olumlia. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1017.  341 

Provided  that  a  certain  jiortion  of  it  shall  be  reservetl  for  use  of 
alleys. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Are  you  sure  that  if  we  should  le<j:islate  in  this 
way,  the  property  owners  would  purchase  this  land? 

Mr.  Clagett.  They  have  all  agreed  to  do  that  with  the  exception 
of  the  three  who  rent,  and  Mr.  Lynch  and  two  or  three  other  gentle- 
men have  agreed  to  put  up  the  money  to  buy  that  and  to  hold  it  in 
trust  for  a  reasonable  time  to  allow  these  people  to  take  it. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  How  about  the  parties  who  own  the 
property  of  the  three  who  rent  ? 

Mr.  Clagett.  Those  people  who  own  the  property  have  not  shown 
any  disposition  to  put  up  any  money. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  But  there  is  a  guarantee  on  the  part 
of  the  other  property  holders  to  furnish  money  sufficient  to  buy  it  all? 

Mr.  Clagett.  To  buy  it  all,  and  then  hold  it  in  trust  for  those 
people  for  a  reasonable  length  of  time — for  a  couple  of  years — so  that 
they  can  extend  to  the  alley.  If  they  do  not  act  in  that  time,  then 
they  felt  they  should  not  be  compelled  to  hold  it  any  longer,  but 
would  dispose  of  it:  but  really  it  would  not  be  of  any  service  to  any- 
body except  the  abutting  landowner. 

Senator  Smith  of  jMaryland.  Could  they  not,  holding  the  property 
as  they  do,  simply  refuse  ar})itrarily  to  grant  it  for  the  purpose  that 
you  are  trying  to  get  this  through  for  ? 

Mr.  Clagett.  The  deed  will  be  made  under  those  conditions,  be- 
cause the  proposed  amendment  to  the  bill  provides  it  shall  be  con- 
veyed to  certain  persons  as  trustees,  who  shall  hold  it  for  the  property 
owners. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Have  you  the  draft  of  that  bill  wdiicli  you  say, 
at  the  suggestion  of  a  Member  of  the  House,  striking  out  the  enact- 
ing clause,  would  meet  the  necessities  of  this  case  ? 

Mr.  Clagett.  Yes,  sir.  It  is  all  here.  Here  is  the  bill  prepared  by 
the  commissioners;  and  I,  myself,  after  talking  with  Mr.  Page,  pre- 
pared a  bill  like  this:  "After  the  word ,  in  line  — ,  insert" — 

then  commence  to  c|Uote: 
The  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia  are  herebj  empowered  to  sell,  etc. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Will  you  put  that  in  shape  for  the  coinmittce  ? 
Mr.  Clagett.  I  think  it  is  in  shape. 

improvements    IX    CHEVY    CHASE.    D.    C. 

STATEMENT   OF  MR.  FULTON  E.   GORDON,  WASHINGTON,   D.  C. 

Senator  Smith.  TMiat  are  you  representing  ( 

Mr.  Gordon.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  a  member  of  the  Northwest  Citi- 
zens' Suburban  Association.  I  just  want  to  say  a  few  w^ords  about 
some  improvements  in  Chevy  Chase,  D.  C.  I  wiU  be  very  i)rief  and 
state  my  experience  out  there,  so  that  you  will  grasp  that  the  request 
I  make  is  very  reasonable.     There  is  no  selfish  interest  behind  it. 

M3-self  and  the  Chevy  Chase  Land  Co.,  in  Chevy  Cliase,  D.  C,  have 
spent,  out  of  our  own  j)<)ckets,  about  half  each,  in  the  neigliborhood 
of  8500,000  building  streets,  sewers,  water  mains,  and  sid(>walks,  and 
making  that  a  beautiful  part  of  Washington.     The  increased  income 


342  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATTON    BILL,  1917. 

of  the  city,  the  taxes — I  am  speaking  now  in  generalities  as  near  as  I 
can — were  about  $8,000  or  §10,000  for  the  territory  where  we  have 
property,  and  they  are  now  about  in  the  neighborhood  of  $100,000  a 
year.  While  we  have  been  doing  this,  the  Government  has  expended 
practically  no  money  there  for  minor  repairs,  and  we  are  not  getting 
our  share,  not  intentionally  on  the  Government's  part,  but  it  has  been 
overlooked,  and  I  just  want  to  ask  for  a  few  improvements  there  which 
are  important. 

There  is  one  place  on  Morrison  Street,  Chevy  Chase,  where  the  street 
has  broken  away  on  account  of  heavy  trucking,  bringing  in  sewers  and 
water.  There  is  a  pool  of  water  there  5  feet  deep,  where  a  child  was 
nearly  drowned  the  other  day,  and  if  one  was  drowned  you  do  not 
know  what  the  parents  might  do  under  those  circumstances,  and  we 
are  appealing  to  the  Government  to  fix  that  street.  They  are  arrest- 
ing men  because  there  is  water  on  the  land  and  the  Government  lets 
the  water  collect  on  that  street. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Did  j^ou  go  before  the  commissioners 
in  regard  to  it  ? 

Ml".  Gordon.  I  have  just  lately  written  them.  There  is  also  need 
for  improvement  on  Livingston  Street,  but  Morrison  Street  is  worse 
than  that.  I  will  call  the  streets  that  ought  to  be  improved.  There 
is  Morrison  from  Connecticut  Avenue  to  Belt  Road,  McKinley  Street 
from  Connecticut  Avenue  to  Belt  Road,  Livingston,  and  Legation. 
The  total  cost  would  not  be  over  $20,000,  and  it  is  very  urgent. 

Then,  over  on  Broad  Branch  Road,  I  am  spending  $10,000  now  in 
lowering  it  and  beautifying  it  north  of  Mclvinley  Street,  and  that 
will  complete  Broad  Branch  Road  from  the  District  line  to  the  park, 
except  the  part  south  of  Morrison  to  the  Carnegie  Institute,  which 
would  cost  maybe  $8,000,  and  it  is  a  horrible  street.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  important  thoroughfares  in  Washington,  and  that  ought  to  be 
done. 

Gentlemen,  in  the  main  that  is  all  I  want  to  say,  except  I  want  to 
add  this,  outside  of  that.  You  have  heard  lots  about  the  half-and- 
half.  I  am  conscientiously  interested  in  our  city,  and  for  no  other 
reason  I  am  opposed  to  the  half-and-half.  I  have  absolute  faith 
and  confidence  in  the  gentlemen  in  the  Senate  and  the  House.  Of 
course,  there  are  some  I  do  not  agree  with.  If  it  is  put  up  to  them 
on  honor  they  will  look  after  the  Nation's  Capitol,  and  we  will  be 
treated  right.  All  we  taxpayers  ought  to  be  charged,  I  think,  is  to 
pay  taxes  for  what  we  would  pay  were  this  an  ordinary,  every-day 
town  of  400,000  people  like  Baltimore  or  any  other  city. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Do  you  think  they  pay  excessive  taxes  now? 

Mr.  Gordon.  In  some  cases.  As  a  generality,  I  would  say  it  is 
about  right.  There  are  many  cases  where  it  is  very  unjust,  but  that 
is  not  your  fault. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Are  you,  then,  in  favor  of  the  eight  million 
and  some  odd  thousand  dollars  that  the  District  raised  the  llist  year 
being  appropriated,  and  then  adding  three  or  four  millions  by  the 
Government? 

Mr.  Gordon.  No.  I  believe  in  general  that  the  United  States 
Government  should  pay  about  half.  But  the  reason  I  am  opposed 
to  the  half-and-half  is  simply  because  it  has  excited  jealousy  and  mis- 
understanding all  over  the  United  States,  and  we  should  do  away 
with  it. 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  343 

Senator  Smith  of  Marylaiul.  .Ul  over  the  United  States? 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  has  not  reached  our  country. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  want  to  say  to  you  that  I  have  never 
heard  a  man  outside  of  the  District  of  Cohimbia — and  I  have  talked 
with  many — who  does  not  want  this  city  to  be  made  one  of  the  most 
beautifid  cities  in  the  world.  I  have  never  heard  any  complaint 
whatever  of  a  dollar  that  has  ever  been  spent  to  beautify  it.  I  have 
never  heard  any  complaint  of  the  amount  the  Government  has  paid 
in  any  way,  directly  or  indirectly. 

Mi\  GoKDOx.  I  agree  witli  you  on  that;  but  what  I  mean  is  that 
the  misunderstanding  was  this:  Tiiere  have  been  a  few  pohticians — 
and  I  want  to  say  a  very  few — who  have  evidently  used  this  as  a 
poUtical  all'air,  to  benefit  themselves,  and  it  has  aroused  some  jeal- 
ousy, no  doubt,  and  all  this  strife  which  is  hurting  our  city,  and  for 
that  reason  I  am  wiUing  to  abolish  it  and  trust  Congress  and  the 
Senate,  and,  just  as  you  said,  they  will  make  it  the  most  beautiful 
city  in  the  world. 

Senator  Curtis.  When  the  citizens  trusted  the  Congress,  they  were 
sadly  disappointed  and  had  to  go  to  the  half-and-half  plan. 

Mr.  Gordon.  We  were  satisfied  with  it  until  this  terril)le  dabate 
on  the  subject  began  hurting  our  town,  and  I  would  like  to  see  the 
matter  settled,  and  I  am  willing  for  it  to  be  settled  the  other  way. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  In  this  case  the  bill  that  was  estimated 
for  amounted  to  over  .'Si5,000,0()0. 

Mr.  Gordon.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  is  cut  down  to  about  $11,000,000. 

Mr.  Gordon.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  the  taxes  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  are  over  98,000,000. 

Mr.  Gordon.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marjdand.  That  would  leave  the  amount  for  the 
Government  to  pay  a  little  over  $3,000,000,  about  a  third  of  the  whole. 

Mr.  GoRDOx.  That  does  not  seem  fair  to  me. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  That  is  the  fact. 

Mr.  GoRDOX.  Yes.  That  is  in  the  House;  that  has  not  come 
before  the  Senate  yet. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  is  before  us  now. 

Mr.  GoRDOX.  I  mean  it  has  not  been  acted  upon. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  No;  but  it  asks  both  Houses  to  take 
that  action. 

Senator  Curtis.  That  is  the  proposition  you  have  just   indorsed. 

Mr.  GoRDOX.  I  understand  the  people  of  Washington  have  always 
felt  that  they  were  treated  better  in  the  Senate  than  in  the  House. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marylaad.  The  Senate  can  not  take  care  of  this 
alone. 

Mr.  Gordon.  That  is  true. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  We  have  done  what  we  thought  was 
right.  We  are  in  favor  of  beautifying  this  city  and  making  it  a  great 
city,  but  according  to  the  amount  that  is  appropriated  here,  there 
does  not  seem  to  be  much  progress  in  the  beautxfication  of  the  city. 

Mr.  Gordox.  If  they  all  feed  like  you  do  about  it,  I  am  sure  it  will 
be  done  right. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  will  not  take  care  of  any  of  your  streets  in 
Chevy  Chase. 


344  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Mr.  Gordon.  Xo.  sir;  and  I  wanted  to  tell  you  about  that  water 
pool,  where  a  little  child  might  be  drowned  any  minute. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  did  not  get  the  improvement,  did 
you  ? 

Mr.  Gordon.  No. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  have  asked  for  it  ? 

Mr.  Gordon.  The  commissioners  did  not  recommend  it.  That  is 
a  thing  that  has  come  since  their  recommendation — the  breakdown 
of  the  street.     It  is  in  our  estimates. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  want  to  say,  Mr.  Gordon,  that  I  am 
not  speaking  in  regard  to  the  merit  of  your  case,  but  there  are  other 
cases  I  have  no  doubt  just  as  meritorious  as  yours  that  we  have  been 
prohibited  from  improving. 

Mr.  Gordon.  I  am  sure  of  that.     I  thank  you  very  much. 

improvement  of  ingomar  street. 
STATEMENT  OF  MR.  FREDERICK  J.  HEIDER,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Mr.  Heider.  Mr.  Chairman  and  Senators,  I  am  a  member  of  the 
Northwest  Citizens'  Suburban  Association,  and  I  was  appointed  as  a 
committee  of  one  to  see  if  we  could  not  get  a  little  ap})ropriation  for  a 
couple  of  blocks  in  Ingomar  Street.  This  is  in  the  section  of  Wisconsin 
Avenue  and  Belt  Road. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Did  you  make  your  wants  knovai  to 
the  commissioners  i 

Mr.  Heider.  Yes.     This  was  in  our  estimates. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  In  your  estimates;'  Is  it  in  the  com- 
missioners' estimates  ( 

Mr.  Lancaster.  No,  They  were  not  included  in  their  estimr.tes. 
We  filed  our  estimates  with  the  commissioners. 

wSenator  Smith  of  Maryland.  But  you  did  go  before  the  District 
Commissioners  and  ask  for  this  improvement  { 

Mr.  Lancaster.  Oh,  yes. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  they  turned  you  dov.n  I 

Mr.  Heider.  They  did  n(^»t  recommend  it. 

Senator  Smith  of  "Maryland.  It  is  not  in  the  estimate,  and  tiierefore 
they  turned  it  down. 

Mr.  Heider.  Yes.  What  I  want  to  say  in  regard  to  Ingomar  Street 
is  that  the  street  has  been  improved,  sidewalks  laid  on  one  block  and 
graded,  all  through  private  mone}',  and  there  is  about  S60,000  worth 
of  building  gomg  up  on  these  two  blocks.  It  seems  as  though  we 
have  been  paying  taxes  on  this  property,  and  it  seems  like  we  have 
done  so  much  improvement  with  private  money  tiiat  the  Congress 
ought  to  make  an  appropriation  to  give  these  peojile  an  outlet  to 
Wisconsin  Avenue.  We  went  to  big  expense  m  grading  it  and  all 
that,  and  we  thought  probably  we  might  get  ti.is  appropriation 
through.  I  suppose  it  would  be  about  four  or  five  tlious.aul  dollars. 
I  guess  that  would  cover  it  all. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  are  suj)posing.  Has  there  been 
any  estimate  made  by  anybody  as  to  the  cost  ( 

Mr.  Heider,  lliere  has  been  an  estimate  made  on  Ingomar  Street 
of  $5,000, 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  By  whom  ? 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  345 

Mr.  Heider.  That  is,  the  association  had  a  committee  appointed 
who  thought  that  would  about  cover  it. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marvhind.  Did  any  builder  of  roads  or  streets 
make  any  estimate  on  it  or  is  this  just  a  guess  on  the  part  of  the  com- 
missioners ^ 

Mr.  Heider.  I  suppose  it  is  just  approximating. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Tliese  estimates  are  usually  made  by  the  en- 
gineer commissioner,  but  no  estimate  is  made  for  that  by  the  com- 
missioners. I  judge. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  do  not  want  you  to  think  that  I 
want  to  discourage  you,  ])ut  I  do  not  see  how  we  could  appropriate 
any  money  based  upon  a  guess  as  to  what  it  would  cost  to  make  a 
street.  You  would  have  to  get  an  estimate  made  by  the  engineer 
commissioner. 

Senator  Gallixger.  And  recommended. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  recommended. 

^Ii".  Heider.  I  suppose  we  just  put  it  down  at  S5,000  as  approxi- 
mate.    I  think  that  would  just  about  improve  it. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  We  can  not  act  on  that.  You  do  not 
know  yourself  that  it  would  cost  $5,000,  and  no  more  and  no  less. 

Mr.  Heider.  Xo;  I  could  not  say  positively. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  It  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  act 
upon  a  matter  of  that  kind,  in  my  judgment.  I  do  not  see  how  we 
could  take  any  notice  of  it  unless  you  get  the  commissioners  to  have 
an  estimate  made  of  the  cost,  and  jput  it  in  the  bill.  We  know  noth- 
ing about  it  ourselves. 

Mr.  Laxcaster.  I  may  say  that  if  the  committee  wants  an  esti- 
mate, we  can  very  easily  get  it.  But  this  was  sent  down  to  the  commis- 
sioners and  gone  over  very  carefully  by  the  commissioners,  and  they 
made  no  objection  to  the  amount,  and  this  is  prmted,  and  we  have 
gone  over  it  very  carefullv.  100  men,  and  they  are  all  practical  men. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  One  hundred  men  is  too  many  to 
make  an  estimate.  We  want  somebod}'  who  has  the  knowledge.  As 
the  matter  now  stands,  I  can  not  see  that  we  can  take  any  notice  of  it. 

Mr.  Heider.  Garrison  Street  is  about  the  same  thing,  only  that  I 
would  like  to  state  that  there  are  a  number  of  houses  on  there,  and 
the  street,  as  it  stands  now,  is  practically  impassable.  Every  time 
it  rains  a  branch  runs  right  down  through  the  middle  of  the  street, 
and  when  we  have  wet  weather  in  the  winter  and  early  spring  it  gets 
so  that  we  can  not  get  in  there  at  all  with  anything. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  We  are  not  saying  it  is  not  a  merito- 
rious request.  We  know  nothing  about  it.  But  we  do  say  we  can 
not  act  on  a  proposition  wh.-re  there  is  nothmg  definite  as  to  the  cost 
and  nothing  recommended  by  the  commissioners,  and  no  estimate 
made  for  it. 

Mr.  Heider.  We  can  gel  that. 


346  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL^  1917. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  ROBERT  SWAN. 

COLUMBIA    POLYTECHNIC    INSTITUTE. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  believe  you  represent  the  Columbia 
Polyteclmic  Institute  ? 

Mr.  S^yAx.  Yes,  Senator.  I  will  be  very  brief.  I  realize  the 
value  of  your  time.  Last  year  we  came  before  the  committee  apply- 
ing for  So, 000,  which  the  Senate  committee  recommended,  but  it 
was  thrown  out  m  conference.  The  objection  that  was  raised,  we 
understand,  was  that  it  was  not  a  good  thing  to  put  $5,000  into  the 
hands  of  a  private  institution,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  we  are 
only  a  private  institution  because  there  is  no  other  kind  of  institution 
for  the  blind  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  never  has  been.  We 
decided  to  lay  aside  that  plea  which  the  Senate  so  kindly  allowed  for 
us  last  year  and  applied  to  the  District  Commissioners  this  year  for 
$1,500  to  be  expended  upon  vouchers  under  the  direction  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  guaranteeing  that  in  order  that  the  blind,  who 
we  desire  very  much  should  have  employment,  should  receive  a 
wage  which  we  believe  as  low  as  any  man  should  receive,  namely,  $1 
a  day,  that  we  ourselves  would  raise  by  our  efforts,  over  and  above 
that  $1,500,  $1,500  more,  and  would  keep  in  steady  employment  at 
least  10  blind  persons  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  All  this  we 
placed  before  the  District  Commissioners,  both  verbally  and  then,  at 
their  request,  in  writing,  and  we  hoped  that  they  would  recommend 
it  to  the  House,  and  that  this  could  go  through  in  regular  form.  But 
for  reasons,  of  course  not  assigned  to  us,  that  was  not  done. 

I  called  on  Representative  Page,  of  the  District  Committee  of  the 
House,  after  I  found  that  it  was  not  done,  and  he  said  he  could  do 
nothing,  but  I  can  only  quote  his  phraseology.  He  said,  "If  you 
want  to  get  it  on  you  will  have  to  get  it  on  in  the  Senate."  I  said, 
"Yes;  but  what  good  will  that  do  us,  because  you  were  opposed 
to  us  last  year?"  And  all  he  could  say  was  that  he  was  a  little 
softer  this  year.  What  softness  is  in  a  conferee  I  do  not  know. 
I  hope  he  is  soft  enough  to  do  what  we  hope  for. 

W  e  have  it  in  our  memory  that  twice  we  have  been  appropriated 
for — once  when  we  started,  15,000,  and  again  $3,000  for  specific  pur- 
poses— and  we  are  doing  a  good  work.  1  am  awfully  sorry  that  the 
iiearing  comes  so  that  the  superintendent  of  the  Maryland  School  fox 
the  Blind,  who  was  most  anxious  to  be  here,  can  not  be  here  to-day. 
He  is  in  Overbrook,  I  believe.  You  gentlemen  know  that  Washing- 
ton children  go  to  the  Maryland  School  for  the  Blind ;  that  we  have 
no  school  for  the  blind,  and  the  blind  men  and  women  who  come  over 
there  are  very  many  of  them  not  capable  of  individual  enterprise, 
any  more  than  any  other  people  are  all  capable  of  individual  enter- 
prise. I  do  not  need  to  tell  every  member  of  this  committee  that 
right  in  Maryland  we  have  the  biggest,  best  workshop  for  the^blind, 
I  am  quite  sure,  in  the  United  States.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  being 
there  about  a  week  ago.  There  were  200  blind  people  employed 
there.  Mar3'land  appropriates  $15,000  annually  to  subsidize  the 
wages,  "to  pay  the  handicap,"  as  it  is  called,  to  pay  those  blind 

geople,    and    Baltimore    generally    gives    $5,000.     The    District    of 
olumbia  has  never  done  anything  tor  the  blind  as  a  municipality, 
nor  has  it  done  anything  in  a  general  way,  except  two  appropriations 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOrEIATlON    BILL,  1917.  347 

which  the  Senate  vouchsafed  to  us,  and  which  were  finally  ratified 
by  the  House.  We  hope  you  will  recommend  that  we  liave  the 
$1,500.  We  have  not  tried  to  get  into  the  Senate,  because  we  believed 
that  they  would  be  sure  to  recommend  it.  We  tried  to  g,o  through 
in  the  regular  way,  and  it  is  not  our  fault  that  we  did  not  go  through 
in  the  regular  way.  The  commissioners  did  not  see  fit  to  indorse  the 
recommendation. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Did  you  go  before  the  District  com- 
missioners I 

!Mi".  Swan.  We  did. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  you  stated  your  case  to  them? 

Mr.  Swan.  I  did. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  they  turned  you  do^\^l? 

Mr.  SwAX.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallixger.  I  think  your  statement  that  the  District  did 
nothing  for  the  blind  is  a  little  broad,  and  I  want  to  have  it  in  a  - 
little  different  shape  in  the  record.     Of  course,  the  District  sends  the 
blind  to  other  institutions  in  other  States. 

Mr.  SwAX.  I  meant  adult  blmd;  that  is  what  I  meant,  because 
I  had  just  stated  that  of  course  the  students  go.  The  children's 
cases  are  all  taken  care  of. 

Senator  Curtis.  Congress,  too,  has  assisted  in  giving  these  people 
typewriting,  prmting,  and  things  of  that  kind,  and  also  the  library 
for  the  blind. 

Mr.  SwAX.  Congress  gave  S5,000  toward  what  is  known  as  the 
library  for  the  blind. 

Senator  Curtis.  W^iy  could  not  the  two  institutions,  your  work- 
shop and  the  library  for  the  blind,  get  together?  I  do  not  know  that 
it  is  possible.  I  am  just  asking  the  question.  Personally,  I  think 
both  ought  to  be  helped. 

Mr.  SwAX.  I  want  to  say  this,  if  I  may,  that  the  reason  why  we 
could  not  possibly  get  together  is  this:  The  Columbia  Polytechnic 
Institute  and  the  inajority  of  the  adult  blind  people  of  the  District  of 
Columbia  believe  that  there  is  no  necessity  for  a  library  for  the  blind 
in  the  District  of  Columbia;  that  Congress  has  a  library  which  circu- 
lates sufficient  books,  and  that  every  State  in  the  Union  is  in  a 
position  to  take  care  of  its  own  blind  people  from  a  library  standpoint. 
The  blind  people  of  the  District  of  Columbia  are  unalterably  opposed 
to  anything  of  a  national  character  for  the  blind  in  any  one  cit}^,  and 
especially  in  a  city  like  this,  where  there  is  not  the  slightest  need  of  it, 
because  there  are  at  least  to-day  not  less  than  65,  because  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  listing  them  up  less  than  two  years  ago  for  publication — 
there  must  be  SO  libraries  for  the  blind  m  the  United  States. 

Senator  Curtis.  Yet  these  people  are  sending  books  all  over  the 
United  States.    . 

Mr.  SwAx.  Yes,  sir;  and  I  did  not  wish  to  take  up  this  question. 
But  in  many  instances  they  are  sending  them  out,  and  very  many 
of  the  people  who  receive  them  do  not  receive  them  even  in  a  type 
that  they  are  thoroughly  familiar  with.  You  perhaps  are  r!ot  aware 
of  it,  but  that  library  is  using  a  type  for  its  leading  type — and  the 
only  t3'pe  it  is  using  is  not  in  use  in  any  school  in  the  I  nited  wStates 
to-day — and  it  is  not  recognized  as  one  of  the  best  in  the  United 
States. 


348  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATIOX    BILL,  ICIT. 

I  did  not  wish  to  bring  that  question  up  at  all;  but  that  was  why 
wo  could  not  cooperate,  because  25  superintendents  and  leading  edu- 
cators of  the  blind  consider  that  that  thing  should  not  exist,  and  we 
are  of  the  same  opinion,  and  therefore  cooperation  would  be  utterly 
impossible.  Besides  that,  the  institutions  are  of  entirely  different 
character,  as  you  can  readily  see. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Wc  have  wondered  sometimes,  leaving  out 
the  supposition  that  you  might  perhaps  apply  to  the  library  for  the 
blind,  why  that  institution  and  the  institution  of  Georgetown  might 
not  unite. 

Mr.  Swan.  That  would  be  extremely  delightful  to  us,  Ser.ator,  if 
it  could  be  done. 

Senator  Gallinger.  They  have  a  beautiful  building  there  that  they 
own. 

Mr.  Swan.  I  think  I  have  trespassed  on  your  time  before  in  stat- 
ing that  as  a  rule  the  majority  of  us  who  are  employed  at  this  insti- 
tution believe  that  unless  it  shall  be  for  the  aged,  or  cases  of  ex- 
treme poverty,  homes  for  the  blind  should  not  be  filled  any  more 
than  is  necessary;  in  other  words,  we  believe  that  the  segregation 
of  the  blind,  adult  blind  especially,  unnecessarily,  day  and  night,  is  not 
a  good  plan,  and  we  believe  that  the  blind  man's  or  woman's  place, 
where  he  can  do  his  little  part  if  he  can,  is  in  his  own  home,  in  order 
that  that  close  brothership  and  fellow  feeling  that  should  exist  be- 
tween man  and  woman  should  exist  between  that  blind  man  and  his 
family.  I  do  not  know  whether  you  know  it  or  not,  but  very  often 
a  blind  man  or  woman  who  is  a  member  of  a  family,  by  reason  of  his 
having  to  go  here  and  there  and  be  housed  and  quartered,  becomes 
almost  a  stranger  to  his  own  people,  and  it  cultivates  mannerisms; 
it  spoils  the  life  of  a  man  or  woman  in  many  cases.  I  think  you 
might  say  that  we  are  not  amiss  in  having  aspirations  and  desires 
that  we  should  live  in  our  own  homes  if  it  be  possible  to  do  so,  and 
at  present  the  ruling  at  the  Home  for  the  Blind  on  R  Street  would  be 
such  that  if  our  people  were  employed  there  they  would  have  to  live 
there.  That  is  the  only  reason.  It  is  not  because  we  do  not  believe 
that  the  home  for  the  blind  is  a  great  institution,  and  we  do  every- 
thing in  our  power  to  urge  people  to  give  it  their  support.  We  be- 
lieve in  it.     We  think  it  is  good. 

Senator  Gallinger.  The  members  of  the  Bolytechnic  Institute 
live  in  their  own  homes,  do  they  ? 

Mr.  Savan.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Entirely  so  ? 

Mr.  Swan.  No,  sir;  not  entirely.  You  mean  the  people  indi- 
vidually 'i 

Senator  Gallinger.  Yes. 

Mr.  Swan.  Only  persons  who  are  employees  of  the  Colum])ia  Poly- 
technic Institute.  President  Miles,  who  is  with  us  this  mornin§\  lives 
there.  He  is  a  Connecticut  man.  But  he  pays  board  there  just  as 
you  might  pay  board  in  a  hotel.  Some  day  we  hope  we  will  elimi- 
nate that,  and  he  will  have  to  live  somewhere  else. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  I  think  we  understand,  Mr.  Swan, 
what  you  desire. 

Mr.  Swan.  I  believe  that  is  all,  vSenator,  and  I  thank  you  very 
much. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPEIATION    BILL,  1917.  349 

BKOOKLAXl)    AND    L.WGDOX    SCHOOLS. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  J.  N.  NIGH,  OF  WOODRIDGE,  D.  C. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Mr.  Nigh  comes  in  relVivnce  to  that  school 
controversy  to  which  I  called  the  attention  of  the  committee  the 
other  day,  and  we  have  heard  from  the  superintendent  of  ethication 
and  some  other  gentlemen. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Are  you  here  in  an  incUvidual  capacity, 
or  do  you  represent  any  organization  i 

Mr.  XiGii.  Both.  I  represent  the  Langdon-Woodridge  Citizens' 
Association,  and  am  a  special  committee  on  the  study  of  suburban 
schools  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

I  wrote  you  a  letter.  Senator,  and  sent  a  copy  of  it  to  Senator  Gal- 
linger  and  confided  to  his  care  last  Wednesday  some  data  that  I  had 
prepared,  with  photographs.  I  do  not  know  whether  they  have  been 
before  the  committee  or  not. 

Senator  Gallixger.  We  have  them  all  here. 

Mr.  XiGH.  And  a  map  that  I  prepared,  the  official  map  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  our  section,  marking  the  location  of  every  house  in  that  school 
section.  Two  of  the  photographs  shov/  the  Langdon  school  build- 
ings. One  of  them  shows  the  school  building  located  near  tlie 
Olivet  Cemetery  on  the  Bladensburg  Road  that  has  been  abandoned 
for  six  years,  a  good  brick  building.  Mr.  Oyster  told  me  that  it  was 
under  his  achninistration  that  it  was  abandoned,  and  the  reason 
was  that  they  could  not  get  any  children  to  attend  it.  There  were 
few  in  the  immediate  vicinity,  and  those  who  were,  preferred  to  attend 
the  Langdon  school.  Four  of  the  photographs  are  made  of  the  site 
proposed  by  tlie  commissioners  and  the  school  board  in  Brookland. 
That  was  purchased  with  an  appropriation  that  was  made  specifically, 
in  the  language  of  the  appropriation,  for  the  Langdon-Woodridge 
neighborliood,  and  proceedings  were  begun  to  obtain  a  site  in  Wood- 
ridge  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  bill  passed  by  the 
Congress  about  three  years  ago.  Mr.  Selden  M.  Ely,  the  supervising 
principal  of  the  schools  of  the  fifth  division,  made  a  selection  and  sub- 
mitted it  to  the  school  board,  and  after  beginning  proceedings  to 
obtain  the  title  to  the  land  by  condemnation,  abandoned  it,  and 
nobody  could  understand  why.  The  people  of  Woodridge,  for  whom 
it  was  thought  the  school  was  intended  specifically  by  the  language 
of  the  bill  and  the  conditions  obtaining,  of  the  crowded  school  at 
Langdon,  and  the  greater  number  of  cliihlren  in  Woodridge  attending 
the  school — 161  of  tiiem — thought  that  the  site  had  been  shifted 
at  the  instance  of  some  influence  unknown  to  them,  and  a  new  site 
selected,  not  in  the  Langdon-Woodridge  neighborhood,  but  at  Eight- 
eenth and  Monroe  Streets,  or  between  Monroe  and  Newton  Streets 
in  Brookland,  the  Sherwood  adcHtion  to  Brookland,  a  subdivision 
that  has  been  developing  for  the  last  15  years. 

I  have  a  prepared  tabulated  statement,  prepared  by  the  13  teachers 
of  the  Langdon  School,  and  signed  by  Selcfen  M.  Ely,  supervising 
principal,  dividing  the  whole  school  section  in  attendance,  showing 
just  where  they  live.  There  are  146  children  attending  the  Langdon 
schools  who  live  in  Langdon;  161  children  attending  the  Langdon 
schools  who  live  in  Woodridge;  46  chihh'en  living  in  Avalon  Heights, 


350  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPEIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

east  of  the  Bladeiisburg  Road;  50  children  hving  in  Maryhmd, 
Mount  Rainier  and  Hyattsville,  and  but  65  of  the  506  children  in 
attendance  at  the  Langdon  schools  live  in  Brookland,  where  they 
propose  to  build  a  new  eight -grade  $90,000  schoolhouse. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Eight-room. 

Mr.  Nigh.  Eight-grade  and  eight-room.  There  are  eight  grades 
in  the  schools.  I  have  a  tabulated  statement  to  the  effect  that  in 
two  of  the  grades  there  were  but  two  children  in  each  grade  attending 
the  Langdon  School  from  that  section  where  it  is  proposed  to  build 
a  new  schoolhouse.  In  three  of  the  grades  there  were  but  three 
children  in  each  grade  living  in  Brookland  attending  the  Langdon 
School,  and  the  people  there,  the  association,  are  objecting  to  being 
charged  with  an  appropriation  for  the  purchase  of  a  school  site  for 
them  that  had  been  not  credited  to  where  it  is  going.  Their  con- 
tention is  that  the  money  has  been  applied  to  the  purchase  of  a  school 
site  in  Brookland  that  was  appropriated  for  the  purchase  of  a  school 
site  in  Woodridge,  and  it  is  charged  against  the  Woodridge  community 
but  Brookland  is  the  beneficiar3\  They  are  objecting  to  that  status, 
because  the}^  think  it  is  unfair.  They  can  not  see  why  there  is  any 
necessity  of  a  school  in  Brookland,  there  being  but  65  children  of  the 
506  children  in  attendance. 

We  have  at  Langdon  two  frame  buildings.  The  school  attendance 
has  increased  there  in  the  past  10  3'ears  from  144  to  506,  and  teachers 
from  4  to  13.  One  hundred  and  sixty-one  of  the  children  in  the  lower 
gi-ades,  from  the  kindergarten  up  to  the  third  grade,  are  put  on  half 
time  in  the  Langdon  School.  There  are  six  schools  a  day  in  six  classes, 
the  teachers  teaching  161  children  on  half  time,  just  the  time  of  their 
lives  when  they  are  certainh^  entitled  to  all  they  can  get  in  the  way 
of  school  advantages,  wifh  the  compidsory  system  of  education  in  the 
District  at  any  rate.  But  they  are  deprived  of  it.  They  are  deprived 
of  it  by  the  conditions  that  obtain,  over  which  the}-  have  no  control. 
It  was  sought  to  increase  the  school  facilities  of  the  entire  community 
to  the  er.d  that  it  would  afford  these  children  an  opportunity  of  getting 
what  they  are  justly  and  rightly  entitled  to,  but  this  situation  does 
not  relieve  it  any. 

There  is  a  reason  for  it.  As  you  gentlemen  are  just  as  well  aware 
as  I  am,  Brookland  is  the  head  of  Catholicism  in  the  L^nited  States. 
The  University  is  located  there,  and  a  great  number  of  their  popu- 
lation are  of  that  faith  and  patronize  parochial  schools.  That  is  the 
reason  why  there  is  no  crowded  condition  in  the  Brookland  schools, 
and  our  contention  is  there  is  no  necessity  for  schools  where  there 
are  no  children.  This  site  that  has  been  selected  is  out  in  the  middle 
of  an  abandoned  farm.  There  is  a  dairy  there.  It  has  not  been 
cultivated,  ljut  150  years  ago  it  was  cultivated. 

When  Maryland  was  a  colony  under  the  English  authority  that  was 
a  cultivated  farm,  fronting  on  the  Queen's  Chapel  Road,  and  has  been 
in  cultivation  the  greater  part  of  150  years  because  of  the  fact  that  it 
was  low,  on  a  creek  bottom.  It  forms  the  bottom  of  the  basii>,  the 
topographic  basin,  that  drains  hundreds  of  acres.  It  is  the  lowest 
point.  The  land  migiit  have  been  easily  obtained — it  is  in  the 
market — on  either  hand.  There  are  two  vacant  blocks,  and  none  of 
it  is  surveyed  or  platted.  It  is  all  farm  land,  waiting  and  being  held 
for  speculation,  lor  improvement,  for  development.  But  there  are 
two  sites  that  were  available  contiguous  to  the  site  that  was  selected. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  351 

This  was  ofTerod,  l)ocaiiso  of  the  fact  tliat  it  had  not  any  vakio,  to 
unload  onto  the  authorities.  One  of  the  sites  lying  contiguous  on 
the  Newton  Street  side,  fronting  Eighteenth  Street,  is  wooded,  and 
has  been  for  a  great  many  years,  large  oak  trees,  and  it  has  an  altitude 
above  the  site  selected  of  a])out  35  feet.  On  the  other  side,  from 
Monroe  Street  to  Lawrence  Street,  is  an  unimproved  section,  with  a 
number  of  trees  on  it,  and  has  about  the  same  altitu(k^  that  this  site 
has  on  the  north  of  it.  But  in  the  center  there  was  the  piece  of  pro- 
perty that  was  offered  by  real  estate  interests,  by  men  who  had  it, 
offered  through  the  Brookland  or  the  Rhode  Island  Avenue  Citizens' 
Association.  They  are  members  of  that  association,  and  are  seeking 
to  develop  their  property  interests.  They  hold  a  great  deal  of  the 
property  there  that  has  not  been  improved,  has  not  been  built  upon, 
though  it  is  platted,  but  hundreds  of  acres  have  not  been  platted  at 
all  yet.  There  are  no  streets  anywhere  except  Eighteenth  Street, 
which  is  the  old  Queens  Chapel  Road,  improved  on  the  front. 


The  map  I  have  prepared  here  shows  exactl}-  the  situation,  the 
jdon  schools  and  of  the  propc 
the  colored  scho(4  over  on  the  Bunker  Hill  Road  in  the  same  section, 


location  of  the  Langdon  schools  and  of  the  proposed  new  school,  and 


and   the   Woodridge    School.     This    area    marked    in   green  is   the 

Eroposed  site,  showing  that  there  are  no  buildings  an3-where  on 
undreds  of  acres  there,  nowhere  in  sight  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
not  a  house,  not  a  child,  where  they  are  proposing  to  )>uild  this 
$90,000  building.  I  show  here  the  location  of  all  the  hoiues.  The 
people  who  would  patronize  that  school,  you  see,  are  living  here, 
within  four  blocks  or  less  of  the  Langdon  School.  All  the  children 
who  live  over  there  [indicatmg]  are  within  four  blocks  of  the  Langdon 
School,  and  they  are  closer  to  the  Langdon  School,  and  are  the  natural 
patrons  of  the  Langdon  School  site,  more  so  than  those  who  live  in 
Woodridge.  There  is  not  a  child  in  Woodridge  who  li\es  closer 
than  six  blocks  and  a  half  of  the  Larigdon  School. 

Senator  Dillixgham  (referring  to  a  map).  What  is  that  ? 

Mr.  Nigh.  That  is  the  site  that  the  citizens  of  Woodridge  selected 
to  have  the  schoolhouse  located  on.  This  is  the  site  selected  by 
Seidell  M.  Ely,  as  having  charge  of  the  matter,  and  submitted  to  the 
school  board  and  accepted,  and  this  is  the  site  they  chose  after  the 
deal,  or  so  charged  deal,  on  the  part  of  real  estate  interests,  to  have 
it  located  here  in  order  to  encourage  the  development  of  their  prop- 
erty; not  a  schoolhouse  for  children,  not  a  schoolhouse  to  meet  the 
demands  and  necessities  of  schoolchildren,  but  a  schoolhouse  for  the 
development  of  unimproved  property  held  by  real  estate  interests 
in  the  section  out  there,  as  everyone  is  perfectly  familiar  with. 

The  contention  of  these  people  is  that  the'  purpose  of  a  school 
building  is  to  afford  facilities  to  children  to  attend  school  and  acquire 
an  education,  and  there  is  not  anything  that  should  interest  our 
patrons,  citizens,  or  Congress,  as  the  generation  that  are  now  in  attend- 
ance at  school.  The  argument  that  was  atlvanced  before  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Ilouse  by  the  school  l)oard  and  commissioners  was  that 
the}'  took  into  consideration  the  future;  they  woi-e  looking  to  future 
development.  We  know  they  were,  and  the  people  who  were  inter- 
ested were  the  ])eople  who  had  the  property  there.  But,  as  I  am 
credibly  informed  by  Mr.  Ashford,  the  municipal  architect,  there  are 
14   frame  fire-trap    school   buildings   in    the   District  of   Columbia 


352  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

that  are  overcrowded,  and  we  hare  two  of  them  on  one  side  in 
Langdon,  with  506  children  menaced  every  hour  of  every  day  of 
school  with  the  danger  of  fire,  and  the  apprehension  of  a  holocaust 
hurting  the  hearts  of  their  mothers  all  the  time.  If  you  are  fathers — 
and  I  presume  you  are — you  will  take  those  things  to  your  hearts. 
My  children  are  grown  up  and  out  of  school.  That  is  the  only  reason 
I  am  making  any  individual  fight  against  this  thing,  and  I  have  gone 
to  the  expense  and  trouble  of  preparing  these  things  in  order  to  make 
it  comprehensive  to  the  mmds  of  Congress.  The  responsibility 
attaches  to  Congress,  and  I  think  we  feel  and  appreciate  that  fact, 
and  I  think  they  appreciate  my  efforts  as  an  individual  in  affording 
them  an  opportunity  of  understanding  the  situation.  There  have 
been  too  many  things  done  in  the  District  of  Columbia  where  Con- 
gress did  not  know  exactly  what  was  being  done,  but  done  at  the 
instance  of  individual  or  property  development,  and  were,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  beneficiaries. 

I  have  data  prepared  here  and  substantiated,  and  the  facts  them- 
selves are  apparent  to  anyone  who  will  visit  the  site,  and  the  pictures 
set  forth  exactly  the  situation  as  to  the  location  of  the  site.  My 
contention  was  that  that  site  never  was  adapted  to  school  purposes, 
and  I  am  amazed,  as  others  have  said,  that  men  of  judgment,  even 
if  they  had  no  experience — and  they  have  not  had  in  municipal 
matters,  or  matters  of  that  character — should  select  a  site  that  is  as 
unhygienic,  being  as  low  as  it  is,  and  flat  and  damp,  and  always  will 
be,  and  it  can  not  be  avoided  and  it  can  not  be  remedied. 

Our  people  are  asking  for  what  they  are  justly  entitled  to,  I  think, 
facilities  to  afford  the  children  an  opportunity  to  get  a  schoohng. 
That  is  all  the}-  are  asking  for.  The}-  do  not  object  to  Brookland 
having  a  school  when  they  need  a  school,  but  they  do  object  to  an 
immediate  necessity  being  set  aside  by  the  authorities  who  make 
these  things  into  fact,  and  they  are  suffering  an  injustice  and  an 
injury,  and  certainly  the  parents  of  children  have  more  interest  at 
heart,  and  more  interest  at  stake  when  they  are  there  and  must  stay 
there  and  bring  up  their  children,  than  men  who  are  in  the  position 
that  the  school  board  and  the  commissioners  are,  only  two  or  three 
years,  in  their  positions,  or  such  a  matter.  They  can  not  have  the 
interest  that  the  parents  have. 

I  do  not  want  to  take  too  much  of  your  time,  gentlemen.  I  do 
not  want  to  overtalk  the  matter.  If  you  are  interested,  and  would 
ask  me  any  c^uestions  that  you  like,  I  think  I  have  every  fact  bearing 
on  the  matter. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Mr.  Nigh,  I  notice  running  through  the 
literature  that  was  put  in  my  possession  coming  from  you,  you  sug- 
gest several  times  that  this  location  of  this  school  building  is  due  to 
a  real  estate  bargain  of  some  kind  or  other.  You  do  not  mean  to  sa}' 
that  the  board  of  education  or  those  in  authority  who  advised  the 
building  on  a  site  that  you  do  not  approve  of  have  been  in  any  real 
estate  scheme,  do  you? 

Mr.  XiGTi.  Xow,"^  Senator,  I  am  glad  you  asked  that  question.  I 
am  perfectly  familiar  with  the  history  of  the  case,  and  I  will  recite 
to  you  just  why  that  inference  is  drawn. 

it  was  not  my  fault  or  the  fault  of  the  people  on  my  side  of  the 
cjuestion  that  any  such  inference  was  drawn.  Mr.  Ely,  as  the  super- 
vising principal  of  that  division,  was  ambitious,  aspiring  to  succeed 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  1917.  353 

Mr.  Davidson  when  ^Ir.  Davidson  resigned  as  superintendent  of 
schools  of  the  District  and  went  to  Pittsburgh.  He  was  a  candithite 
for  his  position,  and  the  proposition  was  put  up,  as  we  are  creditably 
informed,  by  these  real-estate  interests  in  this  Citizens'  Association, 
which  they  dominated,  offering,  if  he  would  abandon  the  other  side 
that  he  had  selected  and  accept  this  proposition  they  tendered,  to 
mdorse  him  as  a  candidate  with  a  resolution  of  their  association  and 
secure  the  indorsement  of  the  other  Brookland  association  for  his 
candidacv,to  the  position  to  succeed  Mr.  Davidson  as  superuitendent 
of  the  schools  of  the  District.  We  are  simply  stating  the  facts,  and 
the  facts  are  so  apparent,  and  were  never  denied,  that  ever3'body 
in  that  section  out  there  was  perfectly  familiar  with  the  situation, 
and  a  study  of  the  situation  itself  makes  them  still  more  apparent. 
He  came  before  the  school  board  for  election  and  was  turned  down, 
and  Mr.  Thurston  elected.  I  met  the  gentleman  several  times  and 
took  exception  to  his  treating  the  community  in  the  way  that  he  did, 
and  he  committed  himself  to  me  personally'to  this  effect.  He  said, 
"Mr.  Nigh,  just  as  soon  as  we  get  a  16-room  auditorium  school  build- 
ing on  this  site,  then  I  give  you  my  personal  assurance,  as  I  have  to 
others,  that  then  I  shall  recommend  and  urge  and  do  everything  in 
my  power  officially  to  have  a  16-room  auditorium  school  building 
on  the  Langdon  site,"  and  I  wanted  to  know  why  an  immediate 
necessity  should  wait  upon  the  other  situation,  where  there  v>'as  no 
necessity  for  a  school  building,  and  he  made  me  no  answer  whatever. 

That  is  the  history  of  that  transaction.  The  people  there  to  the 
extent  of  351  signed  a  petition  to  the  commissioners  protesting  against 
the  selection  of  that  as  a  school  site  under  the  circumstances,  and  Mi\ 
Harding  promised  that  they  should  have  a  hearing.  Mr.  Ne^vm^n 
simply  pigeonholed  their  petition  and  denied  them  a  hearing,  and 
tiu-ned  them  over  to  the  school  board,  who  had  ah'eady  committed 
themselves  without  a  hearing,  and  it  was  not  expected  that  they 
would  reverse  themselves. 

That  school  board  took  action  through  a  subcommittee,  the  chair- 
man of  which,  Mr.  Ernest  Daniel,  is  a  real  estate  man,  and  affiliated 
and  interested  with  other  real  estate  interests  and  men  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  and  he  dominated  the  action  of  that  schoo.^  board  and 
determined  the  selection  of  that  site. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Is  he  interested  in  real  estate  in  that  particular 
locality  ? 

^Ir.  Nigh.  We  do  not  know,  but  Mr.  Edwards  is,  and  Mr.  Knopp  is, 
and  Mr.  McDowell  is,  and  the  McLachlen  Banking  Co.  are,  and  John 
B.  Lord  is. 

Senator  Gallixger.  But  they  are  not  on  the  board  of  education. 

Mr.  Nigh.  They  are  not  on  the  board  of  education,  but  they  seem 
to  have  a  friend  in  court.  There  is  a  real  estate  man  who  is  on  the 
board  of  education,  and  these  things  were  determined  in  that  wav. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  According  to  your  judgment,  Mr.  Kigh, 
the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia  have  been  influenced 
improperly.     Is  that  your  idea  ? 

Mr.  Nigh.  We  do  not  make  any  such  charge.  We  are  simply 
citing  the  facts.  We  simply  say  that  here  these  thirgs  were  done, 
and  they  were  done  in  the  face  of  these  conditions,  and  these  condi- 
tions obtained,  and  wo  can  not,  with  analytical  miiids,  do  otherwise 
45737—16 23 


354  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOX    BILL,  191". 

than  draw  a  deduction  or  an  inference  from  these  thirgs.  Every 
mind  will  do  that  sort  of  tMng. 

vSeiuitor  Smith  of  Maryland.  According  to  your  argument,  the 
school  board  has  been  improperly  influenced,  and  the  District  com- 
missioners have  been  improperly  influenced. 

Mr.  XiGH.  Only  one  of  them. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maiyland.  I  understand,  but  he  is  the  chairman 
of  the  board. 

Mr.  XiGH.  He  was  chairman  of  the  board. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  this  improper  influence  has  been 
brought  about  by  real-estate  o^mers  who  wanted  to  dispose  of  this 
property.     Is  that  what  we  are  to  understand  '. 

Mr.  XiGH.  They  want  to  develop  it.  They  are  developing  and 
improvirjg  arid  building. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  they  have  brought  about  an 
influence  upon  the  school  board,  who,  as  I  understand,  have  no 
interest  pecuniarily  whatever  in  this  \ 

Mr.  XiGU.  Xot  that  we  know  of. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  also  have  exerted  an  influence 
over  the  head  of  the  District  of  Columbia  commissioners  in  order  to 
gratify  real-estate  owners  '. 

Mr.  X'iGH.  We  do  not  know  that. 

^Ir.  Smith  of  Maryland.  That  is  the  impression  that  you  are 
endeavoring  to  make  upon  our  minds. 

Mr.  Xigh.  There  can  not  be  any  other  inference  drawn  in  view  of 
the  facts  relating  to  the  whole  circmnstances.  We  have  made  every 
endeavor  to  know  and  to  have  a  reason,  but  no  reasons  are  given. 
There  is  the  paramount  necessity  of  a  school  on  the  Langdon  site, 
and  certainly  it  will  appeal  to  the  minds  of  you  gentlemen  that  there 
is  no  necessity  of  a  school  out  m  an  old  field  where  there  are  no  homes 
and  no  children,  and  the  65  children  so  decidedly  in  the  minority,  a 
school  to  be  built  and  maintained  with  eight  teachers.  It  can  have 
no  other  specific  purpose  than  the  development  of  the  land. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Without  desiring  to  interfere  with 
your  argmnent,  I  for  one  am  very  loath  to  believe  that  these  gentle- 
men of  high  character,  men  who  have  been  put  in  these  positions  for 
the  purpose  of  doing  their  duty  toward  the  citizens  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  would  be  influenced  by  an  improper  motive  such  as 
you  have  endeavored  to  create. 

Mr.  Xigh.  And  so  am  I. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  They  are  men  who  stand  so  high. 
Mr.  Blair,  for  instance;  what  interest  has  Mr.  Blair? 

Mr.  Xigh.  Xone  whatever;  and  I  do  not  understand  why  he  is  so 
interested. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Mr.  Blair  has  no  pecuniary  interest  in 
school  matters.     Pie  gets  no  pay  for  what  he  does. 

Mr.  Xigh.  Xot  the  least. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  And  he  is  a  man,  from  all  I  caivjudge 
of  him,  of  excellent  ability,  a  man  of  unimpeachable'integrity.  and 
when  he  comes  to  us  and" tells  us  that  this  is  his  judgment  and  th(> 
judgment  of  the  school  board,  what  are  we  to  do  ?  AVe  have  to  depend 
upon  these  people,  who  are  appointed  for  these  specific  purposes,  to 
direct  us  individually  as  Members  of  the  Senate.  We  have  not  tlie 
knowledge  of  conditions  to  enable  us  to  act  upon  these  matters,  and 
whose  opinion  are  we  to  take  if  not  of  men  of  that  character,  and  men 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  355 

who  have  boon  appointed  to  recommend  and  to  establish  these 
various  scliools  in  the  District  of  Columbia? 

Mr.  Nigh.  Would  you  assume,  Senator,  that  even  the  school  board 
or  the  commissioners  have  more  interest  at  stake  than  the  citizens 
of  the  community  who  are  the  patrons  of  the  school? 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  That  may  be  true,  but  somebody  has 
to  decide  these  matters  between  individuals  who  want  locations  in 
one  place  and  locations  in  another  place.  I  am  not  saying  that  you 
are  not  perfectly  sincere  in  what  you  are  saying  here,  and  that  it  is 
your  conviction,  but  it  seems  that  the  impressions  that  liave  been 
made  upon  those  who  are  in  authority  seem  to  differ  with  yours  in 
this  matter. 

Mr.  Nigh.  I  would  not  put  up  an  argument  in  opposition,  and  I 
would  not  ask  the  committee  to  entertain  an  argument  in  opposition 
on  either  side  of  the  question,  but  here  are  the  facts  submitted.  Have 
they  submitted  any  data?  Here  are  the  facts  substantiated  by  the 
school  atuhorities,  regardless  of  what  the  acts  have  been.  I  know 
that  members  of  committees  of  school  boards  and  members  of  legis- 
lative bodies — I  have  had  some  legislative  experience  myself — give 
very  little  attention  to  these  matters  personally,  and  their  judgment 
is  shaped  and  their  act  is  shaped  by  the  representation  made  by  som^r- 
one  who  has  mvestigated  the  matter  and  makes  a  report,  and  the 
whole  is  consummated  in  the  action  of  the  whole  committee  as  an 
indorsement  of  the  fmding  of  that  particular  board. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Do  you  expect  that  this  territory  owned  by 
these  gentlemen  that  you  mention  having  exercised  this  influence  is 
likely  to  be  occupied  soon  and  built  up  (  Is  the  city  extending  in 
that  direction  ? 

Mr.  Nigh.  They  are  expecting  it  to. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Do  you  expect  it  to? 

Mi\  Nigh.  The  development  now  is  not  in  that  direction.  There 
is  not  a  house  in  all  that  section,  not  a  new  house  from  the  school 
site  to  the  District  line,  not  a  single  house.  The  development  is 
this  way.  In  Brookland  on  Twelfth  Street  and  Rhode  Island 
Avenue,  there  is  a  Philadelphia  syndicate  who  are  now  building  a 
block  of  92  houses.  There  is  where  the  demand  is  going  to  be  for  a 
Brookland  school,  in  South  Brookland,  and  not  over  liere.  They 
are  building  more  homes  there  now,  within  the  past  18  months,  than 
there  are  in  east  Brookland,  and,  in  addition  to  that,  there  are  other 
developments.  The  development  seems  to  stay  close  to  Rhode 
Island  Avenue.  It  is  on  the  hOl,  and  all  this  land  is  over  in  the 
valley,  over  in  the  bottom,  where  people  do  not  make  homes.  They 
have  not  been  so  far  induced  to  make  any  homes  there,  with  what- 
ever advantages  they  might  set  up  as  a  clami.  But  here  comes  the 
purpose  again,  if  we  can  get  a  sclioolhouse  in  here,  and  the  homes 
wiU  follow,  the  streets  and  sewers  and  lights  and  water,  then  it  wiU 
create  a  demand  for  our  property.  They  hold  the  property.  I  have 
heard  the  statement  made  in  the  citizens'  association  in  the  Sherwood 
Presbyterian  Church  out  there  by  these  very  men  I  make  the  charge 
against.  John  L.  Knopp  spent  a  night  drumming  up  attendance  for 
a  meeting  there  in  his  own  behalf  and  the  real  estate  interests  to 
secure  this  site  hi  opposition  to  everything  that  was  said  and  done. 
Those  are  the  facts  in  relation  to  the  matter. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Mr.  Nigh,  just  one  other  question.  In  one 
of  your  communications  you  stated   that  if  the  schoolhouse  was 


356  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPRIATIOI^    BILL,  1917. 

located  where  it  is  proposed  to  be  located,  a  great  many  children 
would  have  to  walk  a  mile  to  get  to  it.  Other  gentlemen  have  been 
here,  and  one  of  them  submitted  a  map  which  would  indicate  that 
the  extreme  distance  would  be  a  little  over  a  half  a  mile. 

Mr.  Nigh.  I  will  say  this,  there  is  the  land  and  here  is  an  official 
map.  As  I  have  indicated  by  the  tabulated  statement,  that  substan- 
tiates my  facts  on  the  part  of  the  supervising  principal  and  the 
tcachei*s,  tellmg  just  where  the  children  live.  There  are  children  in 
attendance  now  in  the  Langdon  School  who  are  walking  a  mile  and 
tlii-ee  quarters,  where  there  are  no  im.proved  streets  and  no  improved 
sidewalks.  The  closest  home  in  Woodridge  to  this  school  is  from 
Eighteenth  Street  south  to  Rhode  Island  Avenue,  and  east.  It  is 
more  than  tlu"ee  quarters  of  a  mile.  The  argument  was  put  up  that 
as  the  crow  flies  they  would  not  have  to  go  over  half  a  mile.  But 
children  out  there  do  not  go  to  school  as  the  crow  flies,  and  there  are 
a  great  many  streets  that  are  unimproved.  They  have  to  zigzag 
around,  and  the  streets  are  in  a  horrible  condition.  I  have  been  a 
resident  out  there  for  15  years,  and  I  think  there  is  not  a  congressional 
district  m  the  United  States  that  has  as  bad  streets  as  that  section 
of  the  District  of  Columbia.  They  have  been  neglected  for  some 
reason,  we  do  not  know  what.  I  think  Senator  Gallinger  was 
interested  in  a  bill  that  I  had  prepared  and  brought  before  Congress 
seven  years  ago,  and  they  authorized  the  improvement  and  opening 
of  Franklin  Street,  but  Franklin  Street,  in  all  of  these  seven  years, 
after  the  property  had  been  condenuied,  assessments  made,  and  the 
people  indemnified  who  owned  that  which  had  to  be  purchased  b}" 
the  process  of  condemnation,  and  sewers  put  m,  and  gas  mains  laid, 
and  water  pipes  laid — I  say,  Franklin  Street  stands  there,  simply 
because  there  is  no  disposition  or  any  real  estate  influence  to  urge  a 
disposition  on  the  part  of  the  commissioners  to  improve  that  street. 
And  yet  the  Federal  property  out  there,  the  reform  school,  that  has 
$250,000  worth  of  improvements  to-day,  is  placed  in  jeopardy  because 
of  that  very  fact,  and  has  been  all  of  these  years.  Congress  appropri- 
ated $25,000  for  the  building  of  a  fire  department  out  there  that  is 
located  in  Langdon,  and  about  S14,000  annual  cost  of  maintenance, 
and  about  sixteen  to  eighteen  thousand  dollars  cost  of  ec|uipment,  and 
yet  that  fire  department  coidd  not  get  to  one  house  in  four  in  that 
whole  section,  and  could  not  get  to  the  reform  school  without  going 
over  a  railroad  track  that  has  taken  a  dozen  lives  and  destroyed  a 
dozen  horses  since  I  have  been  there,  withm  two  blocks  of  my  home, 
and  crossmg  a  grade  level  at  the  Corby  plant,  one  of  the  largest 
plants  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  where  they  have  not  anything 
but  a  private  roadway  to  get  tlu-ough,  and  rmi  in  a  zigzag  way  around. 
I  understand  there  was  a  loss  of  about  $80,000  there  before  that 
stimulated  the  idea  of  the  building  of  a  fire  department  out  there  as 
much  for  the  protection  of  the  Federal  property  as  for  the  homes  of 
the  people.  Yet  it  does  not  do  either.  It  could  not  do^  either, 
because  it  can  not  get  there.  This  project  of  a  street  completed,  a 
bridge  over  the  railroad,  makes  the  fire  department  accessible  to  the 
Refonn  School,  and  makes  it  accessible  to  aU  of  the  homes  on  that 
side  of  the  city  there  without  any  jeopard}'.  Tliere  is  no  reason  at 
all,  because  it  goes  over  a  good  road  and  the  way  is  all  open. 

I  took  the  matter  up  with  Commissioner  Kutz.     They  had  an  idea 
in  their  heads  that  it  was  of  more  importance  to  make  a  recom- 


DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  357 

mendatioii  for  an  appropriation  of  $17,000  or  117,500  for  the  opening 
of  Rhode  Island  Avenue,  when  there  are  no  liomes  on  Rhode  Island 
Avenue.  There  is  the  Distriet  line  [indicating].  The  Government 
is  not  building  roads  in  Maryland,  and  tlie  Maryland  authorities, 
even  if  the}"  have  committed  themselves  to  continue  the  road  to 
Hyattsville,  can  not  commit  their  successors,  and  they  have  not  made 
any  appropriation  contemplating  that  improvement."  Yet  I  say,  and 
I  sf\y  without  any  fear  of  successful  dispute,  that  our  authorities 
are  simply  a  little  limp  m  the  exercise  of  judgment,  as  is  manifest  to 
almost  anybody  who  is  familiar  with  the  situation.  This  is  another 
case  where  it  certainly  is  the  duty  of  the  citizen  to  call  these  matters 
to  the  attention  of  the  committees  of  Congress,  that  they  may  act 
intelligently  on  these  questions. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Did  any  member  of  the  House  committee 
visit  the  territory  and  examine  it  ? 

Mr.  Nigh.  Yes,  sir.     Mr.  Page  went  there  and  looked  it  over. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Mi\  Page  is  quite  in  the  habit  of  doing  that. 

Mi\  Nigh.  And  I  would  be  glad  if  you  gentlemen  would  consult 
Mr.  Page.  The  facts  set  forth  the  situation,  and  it  would  be  a  very 
much  more  impressive  thing  to  you  if  you  should  happen  to  see  it. 

Senator  Gallinger.  But  notwithstanding  Mr.  Page's  visit,  we 
are  confronted  with  this  proposition,  which  cloes  not  meet  with  your 
approbation. 

Mr.  Nigh.  It  failed  there,  and  then  they  make  every  effort,  as  in 
matters  of  that  character,  and  it  is  brought  before  the  committee 
of  the  Senate  in  order  to  frustrate  the  purpose  of  the  other  end  and 
bring  the  matter  of  a  consummation  in  their  interests  as  they  desire. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  Have  you  anything  further  to  say, 
Mr.  Nigh  ? 

Mr.  Nigh.  No.     I  think  I  have  said  enough;  perhaps  too  much. 

Senator  Smith  of  Marjdand.  We  will  take  into  consideration  what 
you  have  asked  us. 

Mr.  Nigh.  We  are  only  asking  justice,  and  we  expect  to  get  it. 
We  could  not  expect  anything  else  from  the  committee. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Do  you  live  in  that  vicinity  ? 

Mr.  Nigh.  I  have  lived  out  there  for  17  years. 

Senator  Gallinger.  How  near  to  the  proposed  site  of  this  school? 

Mr.  Nigh.  About  three-quarters  of  a  mile.  I  live  at  the  corner 
of  Twenty-sixth  and  Franklin  Streets,  in  Langdon. 

Senator  Gallinger.  How  do  you  reach  your  residence  from  here  ? 

Mr.  Nigh.  You  get  off  of  the  Rhode  Island  Avenue  line  and  go 
down  Mills  Avenue  to  Franklin  Street,  and  just  a  block  east,  on  the 
corner. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  simply  wanted  to  ascertain  that  for  per- 
sonal reasons. 

Mr.  Nigh.  If  at  any  time  I  can  be  of  any  further  service  to  you,  I 
would  be  pleased  to. 

Senator  Gallinger.  We  will  call  on  you  if  we  desire  any  further 
information. 

Mr.  Nigh.  I  think  you  will  find  every  statement  I  have  made  sub- 
stantiated by  the  fact,  and  I  have  the  documents  and  the  proof,  and 
it  terrorizes  some  people ;  but  I  think  that  is  the  way  to  do  things. 

(Thereupon,  at  1.22  o'clock  p.  m.,  the  subcommittee  adjourned.) 


358  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

SATURDAY,  JUNE  24,   1916. 

United  States  Senate, 
Subcommittee  of  the  Committee  on  Appropriations, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
The  subcommittee  met  at  11  o'clock  a.  m. 

Present:  Senators  Smith  of  Maryland  (chairman),  Gallinger, 
Dillingham,  and  Curtis. 

Senator  Francis  G.  Newlands,  of  Nevada;  Senator  James  H.  Brady, 
of  Idaho;  Col.  W.  W.  Harts,  United  States  Army;  George  C.  Aukam, 
judge  of  the  municipal  court;  Michael  M.  Doyle,  judge  of  the  mmiicipal 
court;  Chapin  Brown,  J.  Spalding  Flannery,  M.  C.  Hazen,  Harold  E. 
Doyle,  James  G.  Langdon,  J.  S.  Tufts,  and  others,  appeared. 

national  training  school  for  girls. 

STATEMENT    OF    CHAPIN    BROWN,  OF    WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Mr.  Brown.  If  the  committee  please,  I  have  been  a  trustee  of  the 
National  Training  School  for  Girls,  as  it  is  now  called,  ever  since  it 
was  created  by  act  of  Congress,  and  I  am  at  present  the  president  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  that  institution.  As  you  will  remember,  it  is 
a  Government  institution  to  which  all  of  the  female  criminals  under 
18  years  of  age  in  the  District  of  Columbia  are  sent,  and  also,  by  act 
of  Congress,  all  of  the  female  criminals  committed  by  the  United 
States  courts  for  United  States  offenses  can  be  sent  there. 

Two  or  three  or  four  years  ago  there  was  quite  a  sentiment  here  to 
have  a  white  girls'  reform  school.  As  it  is  now,  the  act  creating  the 
National  Training  School  for  Ghls  specifies  simply  that  it  is  a  train- 
ing school  for  ghls.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  although  I  am  from  the 
North,  having  been  born  in  Maine,  I  have  never  been  willing  to  have 
the  two  races  mixed. 

Congress,  in  the  appropriation  biU,  provided  for  an  investigation  as 
to  whether  or  not  there  was  a  necessity  for  a  white  school.  That  mat- 
ter was  investigated  by  the  commissioners,  by  the  Board  of  Charities, 
and  we  were  conferred  with,  and  the  juvenile  court  also  was  asked  its 
opinion  of  it,  and  it  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  commissioners, 
and  their  recommendation  to  Congress,  that  a  white  school  should  be 
established,  or  a  school  for  white  girls,  in  connection  with  the  National 
Training  School  for  Ghls. 

The  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  is  a  member  of  our  board  of  trus-» 
tees;  and  after  careful  consideration  we  recommended  last  year  to 
the  Attorney  General — we  are  under  the  Department  of  Justice, 
although  we  come  in  the  District  appropriation  bill — that  an  appro- 
priation of  $20,000  be  made  for  constructing  and  furnishing  a  building 
or  buildings  for  white  girls. 

Senator  Smith.  How  many  thousand  dollars? 

Mr.  Brown.  .1i;20,000.  We  have  now  10  white  girls.  Since  we 
determined  to  send  them  out  there  about  six  months  ago,  10  white 
girls  have  been  sent  there,  and  except  when  they  are  gathered  for 
religious  services  we  keep  them  separated  from  the  colored  girls. 

That  recommendation  was  approved  by  the  Attorney  General  in 
his  report  to  Congr(>ss,  and  also  by  the  commissioners.  It  seems  to 
me  that  it  is  quite  important  to  have  that  appropriation  inserted. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  359 

I  was  surprised  whon  I  found  that  the  House  did  not  do  it,  after  it 
had  been  so  thoroughly  investigated. 

That  is  all  I  want  to  say  on  that  subject. 

Senator  Smith.  How  many  have  you  in  this  school  altogether  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  We  have  about  90. 

Senator  Smith.  How  many  are  white  ? 

Mr.  Brown .  ^Ye  have  90  in  the  school,  but  we  have  about  150  on 
probation  throughout  the  city, 

SMiator  Smith.  Do  you  mean  to  say  there  are  only  10  white  girls 
in  the  whole  school  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  Only  10  white  girls  in  the  whole  school. 

Senator  Smith,  is  it  a  colored  school  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  No;  it  is  not.  The  race  or  the  color  is  not  specified 
in  the  act. 

Senator  Smith.  And  yet,  out  of  150,  only  10  are  white? 

Ml'.  Brown.  Only  10  are  white.  Of  course  we  only  determined 
about  six  months  ago  to  send  them  there,  and  those  have  all  been 
committed  by  the  juvenile  court  since  that  time. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  am  familiar  with  the  institution.  They 
have  never  encouraged  the  sending  of  white  children  there.  In  fact, 
there  were  not  any  there  when  I  visited  the  school. 

Mr.  Brown.  No. 

Senator  Gallinger.  There  was  not  a  white  girl  there. 

Senator  Smith.  Is  there  any  other  school  for  the  whites  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  There  is  no  other  school  for  the  whites. 

Senator  Smith.  Where  do  they  send  the  whites? 

Mr.  Brown.  They  have  been  sending  them,  in  violation  of  the 
law,  to  the  various  charitable  institutions  around  here.  Sometimes 
they  have  had  to  send  them  to  Baltimore — to  your  State,  Senator 
Smith — to  provide  proper  places  for  them.  There  is  no  question 
but  that  we  ought  to  have  a  building  for  white  girls  here;  and  our 
idea  is  to  have  it  separated  from  where  the  colored  girls  are  now, 
just  across  a  narrow  road,  on  United  States  land. 

Senator  Smith.  You  have  ground  already,  have  you  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  This  school  was  placed  upon  the  reservoir  land,  out 
at  the  District  line  and  the  Conduit  Road.  We  separated  that. 
There  are  three  or  four  hundred  more  acres  that  are  not  used  at  all 
by  the  Government.  People  do  not  know  about  it,  but  there  are 
three  or  four  hundred  acres  right  across  the  road;  and  we  have  no 
doubt  that  the  Secretary  of  War  wiU  give  us  the  privilege  of  erecting 
the  new  building  there,  so  that  it  will  be  separated  just  enough  to 
keep  it  distinguished  from  the  other  buildings.  It  is  a  matter  to 
which  we  have  given  very  careful  consick'ratioii;  and  the  board  of 
trustees  is  made  up  of  very  responsible  people. 

Senator  Smith.  You  say  that  when  these  white  girls  are  brought 
before  the  juvenile  court  they  are  sent  to  some  charitable  institution? 

Mr.  Brown.  They  have  been  heretofore. 

Senator  Smith.  This  is  a  reformatory,  is  it? 

Mr.  Brown.  This  is  a  reformatory. 

Senator  Smith.  And  as  the  matter  now  stands,  it  never  has  been 
considered  a  reformatory  for  white  girls?  Whilst  they  have  the 
privilege  of  sending  them  there,  they  were  not  sent  there  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  They  were  not  sent  there. 


360  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Smith.  You  only  have  about  10  out  of  150 '( 

Mr.  Brown.  We  only  liave  about  10  out  of  about  90  that  we  have 
in  the  school.  We  have  about  150  out  on  probation,  iind  we  have 
probation  officers  that  visit  them  all  the  time.  It  is  a  school  that  is 
run  in  pretty  good  shape,  as  Senator  Gallinger  knows.  The  recom- 
mendation of  the  board  of  trustees,  after  they  have  made  the  investi- 
gation that  they  have,  it  seems  to  me  ought  to  be  acted  upon;  and 
I  was  really  surprised  to  find  that  it  was  not. 

Senator  Smith.  Does  the  court  designate  to  what  charitable 
institution  these  children  shall  be  sent? 

Mr.  Brown.  Yes,  it  does;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  can  not  send 
a  girl  under  18  years  of  age  anywhere  else  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
unless  she  is  indicted  for  murder;  and  the  United  States  courts 
throughout  the  coimtry,  by  act  of  Congress,  have  the  right  to  sen- 
tence girls  there.  We  had  one  sent  us  from  Oklahoma  a  short  time 
ago.     We  have  had  them  from  other  parts  of  the  United  States. 

Senator  Smith.  I  know;  but  there  are  various  charitable  institu- 
tions here  to  which  these  white  girls  are  sent  when  tried  by  the 
juvenile  court,  I  suppose  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  Not  now.  Since  that  matter  was  thoroughly  dis- 
cussed, the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court  has  not  sent  any  white  girls 
anywhere  except  to  this  institution,  and  there  have  only  been  10. 
There  is  only  about  one  a  month,  at  the  most. 

Senator  Smith.  Then  it  has  been  only  recently  that  any  white 
girls  have  been  sent  to  this  institution,  and  that  has  been  done  under 
the  present  judge  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  I  will  say  that  we  tried  it  about  10  or  12  years  ago, 
and  we  found  that  we  needed  the  room  so  much  for  the  colored  girls 
that  we  just  asked  the  courts  not  to  send  them  there,  after  comer- 
ence  with  them,  on  the  ground  that  we  did  not  have  the  room  to  re- 
ceive them  without  mixing  them  with  the  colored  girls. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Mr.  Brown,  the  commissioners  have  included 
this  in  their  estimates  at  $15^000.  You  suggest  $20,000.  Would 
$15,000  give  you  on  adequate  building? 

Mr.  Brown.  We  could  get  along  with  $15,000.  All  we  want  to 
do  is  simply  to  satisfy  this  demand.  Twenty  thousand  dollars 
would  be  a^  reasonable  amount.  We  have  to  furnish  it.  That 
includes  the  furnishing,  too. 

Senator  Gallinger.  It  occurred  to  me  that  $15,000  is  a  rather 
small  amount  for  a  new  building. 

Mr.  Brown.  Yes;  we  ought  to  have  $20,000.  When  you  made 
an  appropriation  for  the  last  building  we  saved  about  $11,000  out  of 
$60,000,  so  that  we  do  not  waste  anything;  and  we  have  a  portion  of 
that  left  over  now.  They  have  allowed  us  to  spend  that  on  the 
grounds.  We  try  to  do  our  duty  with  that  school  and  with  the 
public.     That  is  all  there  is  to  that. 

We  also  ask  for  an  appropi-iation  for  an  administration  building, 
separated  from  the  other  buildings.  We  have  a  new  sup(u-int(MKlent. 
and  it  was  her  idea  that  the  school  could  be  administered  better  if 
they  had  a  separate  administrative  building.  That,  however,  is  not 
as  urgent  as  this  other  matter.  We  also  ask  to-  have  the  salary  of 
the  superintendent  increased  from  $1,200  to  $1,600. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Could  jou  not  give  your  superintendent 
quarters  in  this  proposed  new  building,  if  you  get  it? 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  361 

Mr.  Bkown.  We  probably  could  arrange  that.  This  other  matter 
is  such  a  necessity  that  if  we  could  get  it  we  would  forego  a  good 
many  of  the  others. 

I  have  drawn  up  an  amendment  showing  how  I  think  the  bill  ought 
to  be  amended  so  as  to  cover  that  matter.  The  proposed  amend- 
ment is  as  follows : 

AMENDMENTS    RECOMMENDED    TO    DISTRICT     OP     COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL 
(h.    R.    15774). 

Amend  lines  24  and  25,  page  72,  by  changing  "$1,200"  to  "$1,600, "  so  that  it  will 
read:  "Superintendent,  $1,600." 

Insert  after  line  4,  page  73,  the  following: 

"For  additional  building  to  be  used  for  administrative  purposes,  $10,000;  for  addi- 
tional building  or  buildings,  and  for  furnishing  the  same,  for  white  girls,  $20,000, 
which  building  or  buildings  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  be  erected 
upon  the  land  now  used  in  connection  with  the  Washington  Aqueduct  at  the  bound- 
ary line  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  Conduit  Road;  otherwise  they  .shall  be 
erected  upon  the  land  now  used  for  the  school.  And  authority  is  given  said  Training 
School  for  Girls  to  pay  out  of  the  pa§t  appropriation  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June 
thirtieth,  ninteen  hundred  and  sixteen,  the  sum  of  $83  to  the  teachers  whose  property 
wa.s  stolen  and  destroyed." 

Chapin  Brown, 
President  Board  of  Trustees. 

MUXICIFAL    COURT. 

Mr.  Browx.  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  want  to  speak  of  another  mat- 
ter, not  officially.  I  consider  that  I  am  speaking  now  pro  bono  pub- 
lico, as  a  public  citizen.  I  have  practiced  law  here  for  38  years;  and 
in  connection  with  Judge  Dillingham,  v,^ho  helped  us  very  much  at 
that  time,  I  was  instrumental  in  establishing  w^hat  is  known  as  the 
municipal  court.  That  court  has  given  entire  satisfaction.  I  am 
general  counsel  of  the  chamber  of  commerce,  and  I  know  they  recom- 
mended that  the  municipal  court  should  be  created,  and  I  know  it  has 
given  general  satisfaction. 

Senator  Gallixger.  That  court  took  the  place  of  the  old  justice 
of  the  peace  system,  did  it  not  ? 

Mr.  Browx.  It  took  the  place  of  the  old  justice  of  the  peace  sys- 
tem. Wlien  they  had  the  justices  of  the  peace  the  fees  were  prac- 
tically the  same  as  they  are  now,  and  they  are  the  very  minimum. 
They  are  very,  very  small.  The  cost  of  litigation  in  that  court  is 
■practically  nothing  when  you  compare  it  with  the  costs  in  the  other 
courts;  and  the  municipal  court  does  75  per  cent  of  the  civil  litiga- 
tion, too.     We  have  a  competent  corps  of  judges. 

Senator  Gallixger.  What  amount  do  the}^  turn  in  to  the  Treasury 
now? 

Mr.  Browx.  They  turned  in  $17,000  last  year,  and  a  corresponding 
amount  the  year  before,  and  so  on.  So  that  you  are  not  using  any- 
thing except  the  money  that  comes  from  the  litigants  in  appropriating 
the  salaries  of  these  people. 

^Vlien  the  municipal  court  was  started,  the  salaries  were  put  down 
at  S2,500.  It  is  the  unanimous  sentiment  of  the  bar  that  the  salaries 
ought  to  be  S300  a  month  to  get  competent  judges,  and  the  House 
appropriated  S3, 000.  They  increased  it;  but  S3, 600  is  the  minimum 
amount  that  ought  to  be  paid  to  those  judges.  They  are  competent 
judges — as  competent  men  as  you  can  get;  and  I  do  not  believe  we 


362  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEXDPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

can  hold  those  men  if  we  do  not  increase  their  sahiries  to  a  living 
amount.  The  House  increased  the  salary  to  S3, 000.  The  com- 
missioners recommended  $3,000,  but  when  they  got  before  the  com- 
mittee they  showed  that  they  wanted  it  to  be  placed  at  $3,600,  and 
practically  said  so,  in  recommending  the  83,000.  They  said  that  that 
was  not  enough.  I  have  practiced  actively  here,  as  I  have  said,  for 
years  and  years. 

Senator  Smith.  What  is  the  maximum  amount  involved  in  liti- 
gation before  the  court  ? 

^Ir.  Browx.  The  maximum  amount  involved  in  litigation  before 
that  court  is  S500,  but  there  is  a  bill  now  before  Congress  and  a  de- 
mand to  increase  the  jurisdiction,  and  we  have  got  to  do  it.  It  takes 
on  the  average  about  three  years  before  you  can  get  a  trial  in  the 
upper  court.  If  I  bring  a  suit  now,  there  is  no  possibility  of  trying 
it  for  a  year  from  next  winter.  We  have  got  to  increase  the  juris- 
diction of  that  court  and  give  them  jury  trials. 

Senator  Dillingham.  How  long  has  it  been  since  there  has  been 
an  increase  in  the  number  of  judges  ^of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  Oh,  it  has  been  12  or  14  3'ears.  It  has  been  a  very 
long  time. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  know  they  are  tremendously  overworked. 

Senator  Smith.  How  many  municipal  judges  are  there  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  There  are  5,  and  that  number  was  cut  down  from  11 
justices  of  the  peace  that  they  formerly  had.  At  first  they  cut  it 
down  to  six. 

Senator  Smith.  Have  you  no  justices  of  the  peace? 

Mr.  Brown.  We  have  no  justices  of  the  peace  here.  They  take 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  justice  of  the  peace,  from  SI  up  to  S500. 

Senator  Smith.  Have  you  police  justices  here? 

Mr.  Brown.  Yes;  they  receive  S3, 600  a  year,  and  these  judges 
ought  to  receive  more  than  that. 

Senator  Smith.  But,  I  say,  have  you  any  police  justices? 

Mr.  Brown.  Yes;  we  have  pohce  justices,  too. 

Senator  Smith.  AVliat  do  they  receive  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  They  receive  83,600  a  year. 

Senator  Smith.  The  police  justices? 

Mr.  Brown.  Yes,  and  it  requires  much  grea+er  legal  abihty  to  per- 
form the  duties  of  this  office.  The  83,600  is  too  small,  but  we  do  not 
want  to  ask  for  too  much. 

Senator  Smith.  83,600  is  a  pretty  fair  salary.  If  you  go  to  various 
cities,  you  find  that  that  is  about  what  the  judges  there  get. 

Mr.  Brown.  That  is  what  they  get;  but  no  judge  who  performs 
these  duties  gets  anything  lower  than  that,  as  was  shown  by  the 
debate  in  the  House.  I  had  a  case  tried  before  them  some  time  ago 
that  really  involved  815,000,  although  there  was  only  one  month's 
rent  at  issue,  under  a  lease,  I  think,  of  $250  or  $300.  At  any  rate, 
it  was  a  five  years'  lease,  involving  ultimateh'  815,000.  That  was  a 
test  case,  and  it  governed  the  question  whether  or  not  they  could 
ever  recover.  They  have  those  important  matters  before  them. 
They  have  all  the  landlord  and  tenant  matters. 

Senator  Smith.  I  thought  you  said  8500  was  the  maximum. 

Mr.  Brown.  8500  is  the  maximum;  but  if  you  have  a  lease  at  the 
rate  of  8500  a  month,  and  sue  on  the  lease,  that  comes  under  their 
jurisdiction. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  363 

Senator  Smith.  The  time  involved  would  bring  iij)  the  total  ? 

Mr.  Browx.  Yes;  the  time  involved  would  bring  up  the  total,  and 
this  was  a  matter  that  settled  the  whole  (|uesti()n  of  the  five  years' 
tenure  under  that  lease.  They  have  those  important  questions  t)efore 
them. 

Senator  Gallixger.  What  is  the  volume  of  business  transacted  in 
that  court  ^     I  mean,  what  is  the  number  of  cases  ? 

Mr.  Browx.  Here  are  Judge  Aukam  and  Judge  Doyle.  I  have 
asked  them  to  come  here.  They  are  two  of  the  judges  of  the  court. 
I  wanted  you  to  see  the  judges  they  have  down  there.  Judge  Aukam 
has  been  a  judge  for  12  years,  and  Judge  Doyle  has  been  a  judge  for 
5  or  6  years.     C'an  you  tell.  Judge,  the  volume  of  business? 

Judge  Aukam.  It  amounted  to  about  125  cases  a  da}^  a  year  ago, 
Senator.  It  has  probably  increased  since  that  time.  I  am  speaking 
of  the  average. 

Senator  Smith.  Before  the  five  judges  ? 

Judge  Aukam.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  That  would  be  about  25  before  each  judge. 

Mr.  Brown.  About  that.  They  do  all  the  business.  It  looks  like 
one  of  these  county  courts  down  there.  AU  the  automobiles  in  town 
are  around  there  in  the  morning.  The  last  case  I  tried  there  took 
three  weeks. 

Senator  Smith.  Do  they  try  criminal  cases  ? 

Mr.  Brown.  No;  they  do  not.  They  are  all  tried  in  the  criminal 
courts. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  should  like  to  ask  Judge  Aukam  about 
what  proportion  of  those  entries  are  tried. 

Judge  Aukam.  A  great  many  go  by  default.  I  suppose  about  a 
third  of  them,  possibly,  are  tried. 

Mr.  Brown.  But  you  can  see  the  advantage  of  that.  They  go  by 
default  because  they  are  brought  right  to  the  bar  of  justice;  whereas 
if  you  sue  above  you  generally  do  not  get  that  result  for  two  years. 
You  have  to  wait.  When  they  have  to  come  to  trial,  they  will  let 
the  cases  go  by  default,  in  many  instances. 

Senator  Dillingham.  I  asked  the  question  because  I  did  not  see 
how  otherwise  the  judges  could  dispose  of  so  many  cases. 

Mr.  Brown.  That  is  the  way  they  do,  because  you  can  bring  them 
right  to  the  court  of  justice. 

I  am  very  much  obliged  for  this  hearing.  Senators. 

Judge  Aukam.  I  should  like  to  say  that  our  work  is  kept  up  to 
date. 

Mr.  Brown.  It  is  most  satisfactory.  Tlie  action  of  Congress  in 
establishing  that  court  was  the  best  work  it  ever  did;  and  we  are 
trying  to  have  the  jurisdiction  enlarged. 

KLINGLE    FORD    VALLEY    AND    WOODLEY    ROAD. 

STATEMENT   OF   HON.    FRANCIS   G.    NEWLANDS,   A   SENATOR 
FROM  THE  STATE  OF  NEVADA. 

Senator  Newlaxds.  Mr.  Chairman,  there  are  two  measures  pend- 
ing in  the  Senate  Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia  involving 
the  same  neighborhood — one  for  the  condemnation  of  land  for  high- 
way and  park  purposes,  to  preserve  the  Klinglc  Ford  N'alley,  intro- 


364  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPKIATION    BILL,  1917. 

duccd  by  the  chairman  of  the  District  Committee,  Mr.  Smith  of 
Maryhmd,  and  the  other,  introduced  by  Mr.  Martin  of  Virginia,  pro- 
viding for  the  widening  of  Woodley  Road  between  Thirty-fifth  Street 
and  Wisconsin  Avenue.  Senator  Brady,  Mr.  Parmalee,  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  and  myself,  have  very  considerable  interests  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  these  proposed  improvements;  Senator  Norris  has  a  residence 
in  that  vicinity,  and  he  is  very  much  interested;  and  the  others  inter- 
ested are  for  the  most  part  the  owners  of  what  is  called  the  Massa- 
chusetts Avenue  property,  which  has  been  improved  be^^ond  Rock 
Creek  by  them  at  an  expenditure  of  some  $700,000,  and  a  number  of 
small  proprietors  in  Cleveland  Park,  who  are  quite  interested.  The 
result  nas  been  that  after  a  hearing  before  the  subcommittee  of  the 
District  Committee  of  wdiich  Senator  Saulsbury  was  chairman,  he 
requested  Col.  Kutz,  the  engineer  commissioner 

Senator  Gallinger.  Just  (>ne  cjuestion  at  that  point.  Is  this 
proposition  to  acquire  the  Klingle  Ford  property  along  the  line  of 
bills  which  have  been  introducecl  several  times  in  the  Senate  ? 

Senator  Newlands.  Somewhat  modified  as  to  the  amount  of 
expenditure;  yes. 

Senator  Gallinger.  The  committee  recommended  it  a  couple  of 
times,  you  know. 

Senator  Newlands.  Oh,  yes;  it  was  recommended  by  the  Senate, 
put  in  the  Senate  bill,  and  passed,  so  far  as  the  Senate  was  concerned; 
but  the  House,  I  believe,  refused  to  concur.  That  relates  to  the 
Klingle  Valley  improvement. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  subcommittee  of  the  District  Committee  the 
other  day,  Senator  Saulsbury  rec[uested  Col.  Kutz,  the  engineer 
commissioner,  and  Col.  Harts,  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Buildings 
and  Grounds,  to  confer  together  w^th  a  view  to  recommending  a  plan 
that  would  meet,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  views  of  all  those  interested 
in  the  vicinity,  of  course  having  a  view  to  the  public  interest  fu'st, 
and  that  would  involve  as  small  a  taking  of  land  as  possible.  They 
have  been  consulting  together;  and  I  should  like  to  have  you  listen 
to  Col.  Harts  and  Mr.  Langdon,  who  is  the  landscape  architect  under 
Col.  Harts,  in  reference  to  this  matter. 

Senator  Smith.  They  were  asked  to  do  tliis  by  the  subcommittee? 

Senator  Newlands.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith.  Have  they  reported  their  conclusions  to  the  sub- 
committee ? 

Senator  Newlands.  No;  not  yet,  because  it  has  been  very  difficult 
to  get  the  subcommittee  together;  and  we  contemplated  final  action, 
anyway,  if  possible,  through  the  Ai)[)r()priati()ns  Committee.  As  they 
have  reached  a  conclusion,  and  as  your  hearings  are  about  to  close, 
I  thought  it  best  to  get  this  matter  Ix'fore  you,  and  then  I  have  no 
doubt  tliat  Mr.  Saulsbury  will  express  his  views  to  you  later  on. 

Senator  Smith.  Without  regard  to  what  action  we  take  here  to-day 
I  think  it  will  be  well  for  them  to  make  tlieir  report  to  the  subcom- 
mittee, so  that  they  can  act  upon  it,  as  they  have  been  designated 
for  that  purpose. 

Senator  Newlands.  Certainly;  and  if  they  should  report  favorably 
from  the  committee  itself,  of  course  that  would  strengthen  the  pro- 
posal. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  365 

STATEMENT  OF  HON.  JAMES  H.  BRADY,  A  SENATOR  FROM 
THE  STATE  OF  IDAHO. 

Senator  Brady.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  compelled  to  attend  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Military  Affairs  Committee  that  has  just  been  called,  since 
11  o'clock;  and  I  think  it  is  a  very  good  time  for  you  to  hear  what 
Col.  Harts  lias  to  say,  and  to  let  him  show  you  by  the  map  what  the 
connecting  lines  are.  There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  just 
how  the  connecting  link  between  the  two  parks  should  be  made.  I 
will  ask  Col.  Harts  to  point  it  out  there  on  the  map. 

Col.  Harts.  Between  here  and  here  [indicating  on  map.] 

Senator  Brady,  lind  before  ffnal  action  is  taken  I  should  like  to 
have  Mr.  Hazen,  the  District  surveyor,  submit  his  plan  also.  I  do 
not  think  there  will  be  any  trouble  at  all  in  our  getting  together; 
but  I  want  to  have  it  figured  out  so  that  we  could  tell  whicli  {)lan 
takes  the  most  land,  and  what  it  can  be  had  for.  In  other  words, 
there  are  some  changes  that  could  be  made  there  about  which  I  feel 
quite  sure  the  parties  will  make  some  concessions  in  order  that  the 
plan  ma}'  be  improved — some  which  I  know  Col.  Harts  would  be 
glad  to  have  done  except  for  the  cost.  If  we  can  get  them  to  waive 
the  cost  to  a  certain  degree,  it  might  be  beneficial  both  to  the  city 
and  to  the  community  out  there.  There  is  no  question  but  that 
that  link  connecting  the  parks  should  be  built.  It  has  been  approved, 
as  I  understand,  by  the  commissioners. 

Col.  Harts.  Yes,  sir;  buying  the  Klingle  Valley. 

Senator  Brady.  And  it  has  been  shown  just  how  much  land  should 
be  taken.  We  have  cut  do\^^l  the  amount  of  land  considerably  from 
the  original  estimate,  and  as  I  understand,  Mr.  Newlands,  they  have 
it  now  where  it  is  about  what  the  commissioners  are  willing  to  recom- 
mend.    Is  not  that  correct  ? 

Senator  Newlaxds.  So  I  understand.     I  do  not  know. 

Senator  Gallinger.  But  the  commissioners  have  not  estimated 
for  it.  Col.  Harts  ? 

Col.  Harts.  No,  sir.  We  have  a  rough  estimate  here  that  we  are 
prepared  to  give  3'ou. 

Senator  Newlands.  The  commissioners  did  estimate  for  the 
larger  amount.  This  bill  was  introduced  by  Senator  Smith  upon  the 
request  of  the  commissioners. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  mean,  does  it  appear  in  the  Book  of  Esti- 
mates as  a  recommendation  ? 

Senator  Newlands.  They  accompanied  it  with  an  estimate. 

STATEMENT  OF  COL.  WILLIAM  W.  HARTS,  UNITED  STATES 
ARMY,  OFFICER  IN  CHARGE  OF  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  AND 
GROUNDS. 

Senator  Smith.  Col.  Harts,  will  you  please  state,  for  the  record, 
what  position  you  hold  in  connection  with  the  government  of  the 
District  of  Columbia  ? 

Col.  Harts.  I  am  the  officer  in  charge  of  public  buildings  and 
grounds,  and  have  direct  charge,  under  the  Chief  of  Engineers,  of 
the  park  system  of  the  District. 

Senator  S]mith.  I  knew  it  myself,  but  I  wanted  it  for  the  record. 


366  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Newlands.  Col.  Harts,  do  you  not  think  that  if  you  will 
take  this  relief  map  the  members  of  the  committee  will  understand 
better  as  to  the  location  of  the  valley? 

Col.  Harts.  This  will  show  better  the  general  location,  probably, 
I  should  think.  I  wish  to  start  by  saying  that  we  were  requested  by 
the  chairman  of  the  subcommittee  of  the  District  of  Columbia  com- 
mittee to  prepare  a  design 

Senator  Smith.  Gentlemen,  there  is  one  question  I  want  to  ask 
3'ou  about,  if  you  please,  before  you  go  any  further.  Has  there  been 
an  estimate  made  for  this  land  by  the  District  Commissioners  in 
connection  with  this  bill  I 

Senator  Newlands.  As  I  understand,  the  District  Commissioners 
sent  a  communication  to  3^ou  when  you  introduced  the  bill,  carrying 
an  estimate  of  the  amount. 

Senator  Smith.  That  might  be ;  but  have  they  included  it  in  their 
report  to  Congress  ? 

Senator  Curtis.  Through  the  Treasury  Department  ? 

Senator  Newlands.  I  do  not  know  whether  it  is  covered  by  that 
or  not. 

Senator  Smith.  I  have  no  doubt  that  when  I  introduced  this  bill, 
at  the  suggestion  of  some  one — I  do  not  remember  now — I  communi- 
cated with  the  District  Commissioners  to  ascertain  whether  or  not  it 
met  with  their  approval;  but  what  we  would  like  to  know  is  whether 
or  not  the  money  has  been  estimated  for  by  the  District  Commis- 
sioners, and  included  in  their  report  to  Congress.  I  do  not  think  it 
has. 

wSenator  Gallixger.  I  think  not. 

Senator  Smith.  That  is  a  difficulty  that  we  would  have  to  en- 
counter here.  There  has  been  no  estimate  for  it.  At  the  same  time 
we  shall  be  glad  to  hear  you  gentlemen. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Col.  Harts,  please  point  out  Klingle  Ford  and 
explain  its  relations  to  those  other  localities. 

Col.  Harts.  Here  is  the  little  creek  that  runs  down  into  Rock 
Creek.  The  road  follows  the  creek  and  is  kno^^^l  as  Klingle  Road. 
This  has  been  the  subject  of  consideration  a  number  of  different  times 
])y  Congress,  and  I  think  it  has  been  approved  a  number  of  times,  at 
the  request  of  the  District  Commissioners,  in  the  past. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Approved  by  the  Senate  ? 

Col.  Harts.  Yes,  sir.  The  present  scheme  is  a  little  more  extensive 
than  the  others,  inasmuch  as  it  makes  a  connection  between  Federal 
property  that  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Government,  deeded  to  them, 
along  the  Naval  Observatory  up  near  Thirty-fourth  Street,  and  the 
Federal  property  along  Rock  Creek,  including  Klingle  Road,  so  that 
you  will  have  a  circuit  from  Rock  Creek  Park  and  the  Rock  Creek 
Valley,  which  is  now  the  subject  of  a  bill  before  Congress,  connecting 
up  FedeivJ  proi:>erty  that  is  already  in  the  hands  of  the  Government 
with  this  proposetl  link,  then  connecting  across  the  link  to  what  is 
now  the  Zoo  ])roperty,  so  that  it  makes  a  circuit  of  park  area.  --  The 
j)art  that  is  under  consideration  now  extends  from  this  corner 

Senator  Dillingham.  That  is  on  Garfield  Street? 

Col.  Harts.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Dillingham.  If  you  will  name  the  streets,  your  statement 
will  get  into  the  record  in  better  shape. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  367 

Col.  Harts.  From  Garfioki  Street  NW.  to  Connecticut  Avenue, 
with  a  little  slip  beyond  Connecticut  Avenue  north  of  the  Klin^jle 
Road.  This  is  shown  more  dehnitely  in  the  larger  scale  maj),  the 
area  in  red  being  the  area  that  is  pro})osod  to  be  taken  under  this 
proposition.  Already  this  is  owned  by  the  Goveriunent,  up  as  far 
as  this  red  line  from  Garfield  Street,  the  ]>r()position  being  to  widcMi 
this,  to  put  in  a  circle  about  the  size  of  Scott  Circle,  and  carry  the 
boulevard  uj)  to  Woodlev  Road. 

Senator  Dillingham.  That  circle  would  be  on  Cleveland  Avenue? 

Col.  Harts.  On  Cathedral  Avenue  and  Cleveland  vStreet;  yes,  sir; 
at  the  intersection  of  Cleveland  Avenue  and  Catlieih-al  Avenue,  as 
shown  by  the  present  highway  plan,  and  widening  Klingle  Road  to 
the  south,  in  the  prolongation  east  of  Woodley  Road,  and  then  carry- 
ing this  line  so  as  to  include  the  valley  and  the  creek  to  Connecticut 
Avenue.  The  total  area,  including  a  little  road  extending  from 
Macomb  Street  60  feet  wide  down  to  Klingle  Road,  and  the  area  to 
the  north  of  the  Zoo  property,  which  it  would  be  necessary  to  buy  in 
order  to  protect  the  north  side  of  Klingle  Road,  will  amount  in  all  to 
13.09  acres.  That  consist-s  of  three  parts — this  part  from  Woodley 
Road  to  Connecticut  Avenue,  amounting  to  9.26  acres,  including  the 
area  east  of  Connecticut  Avenue  and  north  of  Klingle  Road,  and  3.83 
acres  from  Garfield  Street  up  to  Woodley  Road. 

Senator  Gallinger.  What  is  the  approximate  price  placed  on  that 
property  now  ^ 

Col.  Harts.  We  have  an  estimate  of  $164,349  for  the  ground  alone 
and  $25,000  for  grading  and  improvement  of  streets  and  roads. 

Senator  Gallinger.  Nearly  $200,000  for  13  acres? 

Col.  Harts.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Newlands.  Is  that  the  appraised  value  of  the  assessor,  do 
you  understand  ? 

Col.  Harts.  Yes,  sir;  that  is  the  appraised  value. 

Senator  Newlands.  By  the  assessor  of  the  District? 

Col.  Harts.  By  the  assessor  of  the  District;  yes,  sir. 

Senator  Newlands.  And  that  is  assessed  at  two-thirds  of  the 
appraised  value,  is  it  ? 

Senator  Smith.  Is  that  the  total  assessment  or  the  two-thirds 
assessment  ^ 

Col.  Harts.  This  is  the  total  value,  the  assessed  value  being  two- 
thirds  of  this  amount. 

Senator  Smith.  The  assessed  value  is  two-thirds  of  that  amount? 

Col.  Harts.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  In  other  words,  as  I  understand,  that  is  the  total 
aasessment^not  the  two-thirds  assessment,  but  the  total  assessment  ? 

Col.  Harts.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  They  pay  on  two-thirds  of  that  ? 

Col.  Harts.  They  pay  on  two-thirds  of  this;  yes,  sir. 

Senator  Newlands.  Colonc^l,  will  you  show  the  relation  of  that  to 
the  part  that  is  to  be  condemned  for  the  Zoo  Park  ? 

Col.  Harts.  Yes,  sir.  That  comes  right  in  here  [indicating].  This 
area  is  now  the  subject  of  a  bill  to  be  purchased  for  the  Zoo,  as  an 
extension  of  their  area. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Can  you  not  describe  the  area  by  way  of 
streets,  so  that  the  record  will  show  it  when  we  come  to  read  it  ? 


368  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA   APPEOPEIATION    BILL^  1917. 

Col.  Harts.  It  is  tlio  area  in  the  angle  between  Connecticut  Avenue 
and  Klingle  Road. 

Senator  Dillingham.  Coming  down  to  Jewett  Street  I 

Col.  Hakts,  No,  sir;  it  is  an  arbitrary  line  connecting  the  Zoo 
property  to  the  east  and  the  extension  of  Jewett  Street  to  the  south. 

Senator  Newlands.  Col.  Harts,  will  you  also  explain  the  relation 
of  the  Woodle}^  Lane  improvement  to  this  property?  That  is  the 
subject  of  another  bill  that  is  pending. 

Col.  Harts.  We  have  not  given  the  Woodley  Lane  project  a  great 
deal  of  study,  Senator. '  This  is  the  Woodley  Lane  extension  tlu'ough 
here. 

Senator  New^lands.  Perhaps  Mr.  Langdon  could  tell  us  about  that. 

Col.  Harts.  Mr.  Langdon  might  do  so. 

Mr.  Langdon.  I  think  Mr.  Hazen  is  more  familiar  with  that  than 
we  are,  Senator. 

Senator  Beady.  We  should  be  glad  to  have  Mr.  Hazen  explain  that. 

STATEMENT  OF  M.  C.  HAZEN,  SURVEYOR  OF  THE  DISTRICT 
OF  COLUMBIA. 

Senator  Newlands.  Will  you  explain  the  relation  of  Woodley 
Lane  to  this  matter  ? 

Mr.  Hazen.  Senator,  I  did  not  understand  that  W^oodley  Lane 
had  any  direct  relation.  The  commissioners  are  now  attempting  to 
widen  Woodley  Lane  fron  Connecticut  Avenue  to  Wisconsin  Avenue, 
in  accordance  with  the  highway  plan;  and  it  crosses  the  Khngle 
Ford  Valley  project  as  shown  on  Col.  Harts's  map  there.  Woodley 
Road  to-day  is  an  old  roadway  50  feet  wide.  The  commissioners 
are  simply  attempting  to  make  it  a  street  of  90  feet,  in  accordance 
with  the  highway  plan.  There  is  a  bill  in  Congress,  however,  to 
restrict  the  condemnation  to  72  feet,  and  provide  a  building-restric- 
tion line  on  one  side,  so  that  they  will  not  take  title  to  18  feet. 

Senator  Smith.  Then,  as  I  understand,  that  does  not  necessarily 
have  any  connection  with  this  other  project  ? 

Mr.  Hazen.  I  should  not  think  so. 

FURTHER  STATEMENT   OF  HON.   FRANCIS   G.   NEWLANDS,   A 
SENATOR  FROM  THE  STATE  OF  NEVADA. 

Senator  Newlands.  Air.  Chairman,  you  will  recall  that  there  are 
two  big  cliffs  on  each  side  of  Connecticut  Avenue  at  the  entrance  to 
the  Zoo  Park;  and  the  owners  of  the  property  to  the  north  found  it 
impossible  to  develop  their  properties  until  some  definite  plan  was 
estabUshed  with  regard  to  the  Klingle  Valley.  The  owners  of. this 
property  to  the  west  of  Connecticut  Avenue  would  like  the  privilege 
of  Idling  in  Klingle  VaUey,  because  it  would  enable  tluun  to  shave 
off  those  hiUs  and  develop  the  property;  but  the  District  Commis- 
sioners have  been  very  desirous  of  having  the  Klingle  parkway  pre- 
served, and  they  have  been  endeavoring,  now,  I  think,  for  seven  or 
eight  years,  to  have  legislation  enacted  regarding  it.  The  result  is 
that  tlie  (hn^elopment  here  has  been  tied  up,  and  the  property  has  a 
very  unsightly  aspect  fi-om  the  public  point  of  view.  There  is  a  very 
rough-lookintjf  clay  bank  there.  If  this  policy  could  be  determined 
regarding  Idingle  Valley,  it  would  result  in  the  cjuick  improvement 


DISTKICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  369 

and  tlui  (lov(,'loi)nuMit  of  ;i  slightly  apjiearaiicc  of  this  j)r()|)orl\-  around 
the  Zoo  Park. 

I  wish  to  say  tluit  1  am  quite  hirgely  interested  in  tliis  nei^hl)oilio()d, 
and  indiviihially  I  woukl  nuieli  prefer  that  the  (JovernnienI  should 
not  take  tliis  parkway.  That  is,  it  is  against  ni^-  ])eeuniary  inten>st. 
I  shoukl  much  j)refer  if  the  Government  would  just  conclude  to  permit 
Connecticut  Arenue  to  be  built  up  across  where  the  bridge  is  now,  and 
have  a  causeway  of  earth  there.  That  would  cost  not  more  than 
S50,000,  I  imagine,  whereas  a  bridge  there  in  the  future  will  cost  from 
S150,000  to  $250,000.  But  the  District  Commissioners  and  the 
artists  and  the  art  commission,  etc.,  now  seem  to  think  that  this 
development  with  a  concrete  bridge  should  be  carried  out,  and  that 
it  forms  a  necessary  connection  to  the  park.  Meanwhile,  the  delay 
in  the  matter  is  causing  great  loss  to  those  in  the  neigh})orhood,  be- 
cause the  taxes  are  increasmg  enormously.  The  taxes  upon  my  home 
place  there  are  now  $6,000  a  year,  and  I  can  only  get  S8,400  a  year 
rent  for  it. 

Senator  Smith.  I  suppose.  Senator,  there  is  no  revenue  from  a 
good  deal  of  your  property  there,  however,  on  account  of  the  acreage  ? 

Senator  Newlands.  No;  that  is  true.  I  wisli  to  say,  however, 
that  that  entire  property  out  there  is  being  very  heavily  assessed; 
and  I  should  like  Mr.  Doyle  to  state  the  figures  regarding  the  taxes 
and  the  expenditures  there,  to  show  that  the  taxes  are  very  large, 
and  the  taxes  will  pay  for  any  development  that  you  wish  to  estab- 
lish here.  The  taxes  for  a  single  year  of  the  entire  region  out  there 
would,  I  ima^ne,  a  good  deal  more  than  pay  for  this  property.  My 
property,  a  |)lot  of  50  acres,  pays  $6,000.  I  dare  say  Mr.  Parmalee 
pays  $4,000  a  year.  I  dare  say  Senator  Brady  pays  for  his  place 
there  probably  $4,000  a  year.  There  are  just  three  taxpayers  that 
contribute  over  $10,000  in  that  immediate  neighborhood;  and  then 
there  is  this  property  here,  in  which  I  am  interested,  which  pays  four 
or  five  thousand  dollars  a  year  in  taxes. 

STATEMENT  OF  HAROLD  E.  DOYLE,  OF  THOMAS  J.  FISHER  & 
CO.  (INC.),  WASHINGTON,  D.   C. 

Mr.  Doyle.  I  am  with  the  Fisher  Co.  1  have  charge  of  the  sales 
department  there,  and  we  are  agents  for  a  large  part  of  the  property 
in  that  neighborhood.  I  felt  that  we  were  not  getting  our  share  of 
the  good  things  in  the  way  of  improvements,  and  liad  a  calculation 
made  of  the  area  north  of  Massachusetts  Avenue  and  east  of  Wis- 
consin Avenue  to  the  District  line. 

Senator  Newlands.  Extending  to  the  park  ? 

Mr.  Doyle.  Extending  to  l^ock  Creek  Park  on  tlie  east.  As 
to  taxes,  I  find  that  there  is  an  annual  assessment  now  of  $225,000. 

Senator  Newlands.  An  annual  assessment,  or  annual  taxes  ^ 

Mr.  Doyle.  An  annual  colhction  of  taxes  to  that  amount.     The 

ompanies   that  we   n^present,   the  Massachusetts  iV venue   Heights 

Syndicate  and  the  Chevy  Chase  Land  Co.  during  the  past  six  years 

^lave  expended,  together  with  the  taxes  they  have  paid,  $2,000,000 

n  that  area. 

Senator  Smith.  In  how  many  years  ? 

Mr.  Doyle.  In  six  years. 

45737—16 24 


370  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPKIATIOX    BILL,  1917. 

Senator  Smith.  According  to  that  SI, 200,000  of  it  would  be  taxes. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Yes;  a  little  over  a  million.  The  taxes  three  years 
ago  were  not  as  high  as  they  are  now. 

.  Senator  Smith.  The  improvements,  then,  are  about  STOO.OOO  or 
$800,000  ? 

Mr.  Doyle.  It  is  about  even,  the  wa}'  we  calculate.  It  is  a  million 
»f  each.  During  the  same  period  the  Government  has  expended  an 
average  of  $20,000  a  year  and  the  property  owners  S330,000  a  year, 
m  the  six  years. 

Senator  Gallixger.  The  property  owners  got  back  something, 
did  they  not? 

Mr.  Doyle.  They  spent  their  money  for  permanent  improvements 
that  ordinarily  the  District  would  make — macadam,  sewei^s,  trees, 
sidewalks,  etc. 

Senator  Gallixger.   That  helped  them  sell  their  lots,  did  it  not? 

Mr.  Doyle.  Yes;  that  is  what  it  was  done  for. 

Senator  Gallixger.  To  be  sure. 

Mr.  Doyle.  But  they  do  it,  and  in  other  directions  it  is  not  done. 
I  do  not  think  you  will  find  that  condition  in  any  other  direction  in 
Washnigton. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  is  done  on  Massachusetts  Avenue  ex- 
tended, is  it  not? 

Ml'.  Doyle.  I  am  taking  the  property  from  Massachusetts  Avenue 
north.  They  spent  $780,000  there  in  improvements  just  to  get  their 
taxes  raised.  There  has  not  been  a  dollar  spent  in  the  District.  There 
has  been  an  average  of  $20,000  during  the  past  six  years  for  all  street 
improvements  paid  by  the  District  and  the  property  ownei-s  have 
paid  during  that  same  time  an  average  of  $830,000  a  year.  In  this 
particular  valley,  on  the  property  in  question,  the  property*  owners 
pay  about  $20,000  a  year  in  taxes. 

Senator  Smith.  The  difliculty  regarding  these  matters,  gentlemen 
B  this:  I  do  not  know  that  what  we  might  feel  about  it  or  what  we 
might  think  will  amount  to  anything.  The  difliculty  is  that  there 
has  been  no  estimate  made  for  this  improvement;  and  for  us  to 
undertake  to  put  an  item  of  this  kind  on  the  bill  without  an  estimate 
from  the  commissioners  and  without  the  sanction  of  the  House 
would  be  futile.  It  would  be  futile  for  us  to  undertake  to  do  it  with- 
out having  first  started  it  with  the  commissioners  and  then  with  the 
House. 

Senator  Gallixger.  It  would  be  subject  to  a  point  of  order. 

Mr.  Tufts.  I  think  I  made  a  report  for  the  commissioners. 

Senator  Newlaxds.  Mr.  Hazen,  has  any  estimate  been  made  ? 

Mr.  Hazen.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Smith.  Has  it  been  in  th(»  report  of  the  commissioners? 

Mr.  Hazen.  The  commissioners  have  made  a  report  in  favor  of  this 
project. 

Senator  Smith.  Have  they  estimated  the  amount  of  money  requi- 
site ? 

Mr.  Hazen.  I  think  so,  sir. 

Senator  Gallixger.  Mr.  Chairman,  we  ought  to  go  a  step  further, 
and  have  the  Treasury'  Department  transmit  it  as  an  estimate. 

Senator  Smith.  It  has  not  been  before^  Congress. 

Mr.  H.\zen.  The  commissioners  recommended  it. 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917.  371 

t 

Senator  Smith.  Thv\v  mado  an  ostimat  >,  but  they  hav<'  not  made  a 
report  to  Congress  through  the  Treasury  Departmc^it,  liav^e  they? 

All'.  Hazex.  Oh,  no,  sh'. 

Senator  Brady.  My  understanding  has  been  that  there  was  an 
estimate  made  by  the  District  Commissioners.  Did  you  not  make  a 
survey,  Mr.  Hazen,  and  did  you  not  furnish  those  figures  to  the 
District  Commissioners  ^ 

Mr.  Hazen.  Yes,  sir. 

Senator  Brady.  You  exhibited  to  me  a  statement  showing  where 
an  estimate  had  been  made  by  the  District  Commissioners  for  this 
purpose. 

^Ii-.  Hazex.  Yes,  sir;  the  amount  of  ground  to  be  taken  and  the 
cost  of  the  ground. 

Senator  Gallixger.  We  have  here  the  Book  of  Estimates  trans- 
mitted by  the  Treasury  Department,  and  that  Book  of  Estimates 
controls  us  hirgely.  The  item  does  not  appear  in  that  book.  There 
is  our  difficulty. 

Senator  Brady.  There  is  no  question  about  that. 

Senator  Newlaxds.  I  w^ant  to  ask  whether  sometimes  additional 
and  subsec^uent  estimates  are  not  made  ^ 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes;  but  they  should  be  transmitted  through 
the  same  channels,  m  order  to  receive  attention. 

Senator  Newlaxds.  They  must  be  transmitted  through  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  ( 

Senator  Gallixger.  Absolutely. 

Senator  Newlaxds.  That  could  be  done  now,  could  it  not? 

Senator  Gallixger.  Yes. 

Senator  Smith.  If  you  could  get  it  done. 

Senator  Newlaxds.  All  I  will  say.  Senators,  so  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned, and  my  interests,  is  this:  I  should  be  very  glad  if  you  would 
provide  that  the  owners  of  this  land  could  fill  in  this  space  here, 
which  would  save  the  District  the  cost  of  a  bridge  at  from  $150,000 
to  §250,000.  I  have  stated  that  it  is  against  my  pecuniary  interest. 
If  3'ou  are  not  going  to  appropriate  the  money,  I  wish  you  would 
give  permission  to  fill  in  that  space. 

FURTHER  STATEMENT  OF  HON.  JAMES  H.  BRADY,  A  SENATOR 
FROM  THE  STATE  OF  IDAHO. 

Senator  Brady.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  want  to  say  just  one  word  in 
behalf  of  Mr.  Newlands.  I  see  that  he  seemed  a  little  embarrassed 
I  about  presenting  the  matter  here  as  fully  as  I  think  it  should  be 
[presented. 

This  ground  up  here  is  very  high.  This  is  a  very  low  valley  down 
in  here  [indicating  on  map].  If  Mr.  Newlands  could  have  permission 
to  cut  this  hill  oft"  here  and  fill  it  in  here,  he  could  get  more  money  for 
his  land  than  he  will  get  by  the  District  creating  this  park  and  selling 
the  other  land  as  it  will  be  left.  There  is  no  question  about  that. 
The  creation  of  this  park  will  cause  a  loss,  financially,  to  Mr.  New- 
lands:  but,  on  the  other  hand,  I  do  not  believe  that  your  District 
Commissioners  and  your  art  commission  will  ever  consent  to  that 
valley  being  filled  up.  That  has  been  the  trouble  here  for  the  last 
10  years.  This  property  has  been  held  here,  and  he  is  paying  taxes 
on  it,  and  this  valley  has  been  held  here  by  the  commissioners  for 


372  DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPEOPRIATIOT^    BILL,  1917. 

• 

park  purposes  for  some  time;  and  under  no  conditions  do  I  think 
they  would  ever  give  him  permission  to  fill  in  here  as  he  desires  to  fill 
in,  for  the  reason  that  it  would  absolutely  spoil  this  entrance  to  the 
park. 

You  can  readily  see  that  the  Government  owms  this  land  up  to  here 
now,  and  it  owns  over  to  here  [indicating  on  map],  and  the  connecting 
of  these  two  parks  can  be  made  only  through  that  valley;  and  some 
day,  somewhere  or  in  some  way,  that  is  going  to  be  made  into  a  con- 
necting link.  Whether  it  will  be  done  artistically  or  whether  it  will 
be  made  as  a  plain  road  remains  to  be  seen ;  but  there  is  no  question 
but  that  we  owe  it  to  Mr.  Newlands  to  let  him  either  hold  on  or  let 
go.  He  either  ought  to  be  permitted  to  cut  this  down  and  fix  it  in 
such  a  way  that  he  can  secure  fully  as  much  money  as  he  can  secure 
in  this  way,  or  else  it  ought  to  be,  if  it  is  fair  and  equitable,  as  I  think 
you  will  find  it  is,  for  the  reason  that  the  commissioners  have  exam- 
ined the  matter  very  carefully  and  given  it  very  careful  attention, 
and  recommended  it  made  into  a  connecting  link  between  the  parks. 

I  realize  the  difficulties  that  you  gentlemen  have.  We  have  them 
in  the  other  committees;  but  I  think  this  is  probably  the  most  im- 
portant committee  we  have  in  connection  with  matters  of  this  kind. 
If,  somehow  or  other,  you  can  leave  this  open  for  us  to  get  together 
and  get  these  estimates  and  get  things  so  that  we  can  make  at  least 
a  trial  to  see  whether  or  not  it  will  be  knocked  out  on  a  point  of  order, 
I  think  it  would  be  fair  and  equitable  to  all  of  the  community  out 
there. 

Senator  Norris  is  interested,  and  I  think  he  will  appear  before  you 
in  favor  of  such  a  proposition.  Senator  Simmons  has  a  home  up 
there.  He  is  interested  in  it.  These  three  roads  are  built  right  up 
to  here  now,  and  there  are  paved  sidewalks  here,  and  they  run  right 
against  a  hill  and  stop.  People  living  in  Cleveland  Park,  Senator 
Simmons  and  those  parties,  have  to  come  clear  over  here  to  Con- 
necticut Avenue  and  dow^n  this  way;  whereas,  if  these  roads  were 
opened  up  through  there,  they  could  come  right  down  and  save  at 
least  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  traveling,  and  come  down  through 
the  park  and  out  Massachusetts  Avenue  to  the  city. 

The  people  of  Cleveland  Park  had  a  committee  wait  on  me  to  ask 
me  to  come  do^vn  here  and  help  to  get  that  opened  up.  There  is  no 
difference  of  any  consequence  between  us.  There  is  some  difference 
as  to  how  this  should  be  fixed  here  [indicating].     Mr.  Hazen  has  a 

Elan  that  I  favor  as  against  this  jilan.  I  should  like  to  have  them 
oth  prepared  and  submitted.  I  think  we  can  arrange  it  so  tliat  one 
will  not  cost  but  a  trifle,  if  anthing,  more  than  the  other.  But  there 
ought  to  be  something  done  to  get  this  connecthig  link  established 
here,  and  Mr.  Newlands's  and  the  other  men's  property  up  there 
released  so  that  they  can  do  something  with  it. 

I  have  no  interest  whatever  in  this  matter  except  as  a  citizen. 

Senator  Newlands.  The  Cleveland  Park  people  are  very  Sesirous 
that  that  parkway  should  be  kept  ope.n,  are  they  not,  Senator? 

vSenator  Brady.  Certainly.    'Tliere  is  no  question  about  tliat. 

Mr.  Tufts.  Forty-three  of  them  signed  a  petition  to  that  effect. 

Senator  Brady.  There  was  an  impression  up  there  that  there  was 
going  to  be  premission  granted  to  cut  this  hill  off  and  fill  it  in  here; 
and  there  was  a  committee  of  the  Cleveland  Park  people,  headed  by 


DISTRICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATIOK    BILL,  1917.  373 

Prof.  Mitchell  Carroll,  that  caino  to  see  me  and  asked  me  to  jjrotest 
against  it. 

Senator  Newlands.  Senator  Brady,  will  you  be  kind  enough  to 
explain,  in  this  connection,  what  a  groat  convenience  the  opening 
up  of  Jewett  Street  in  connection  with  Woodley  Lane  would  be  to 
the  people  there  I 

Senator  Brady.  Here  is  Jewett  Street  right  there.  Here  is 
Woodley  Road.  They  want  to  widen  it  right  through  here.  Here 
is  the  entrance  to  the  Zoo  Park.  From  Connecticut  Avenue  over  to 
Cathedral  Avenue  here  is  the  distance  on  Jewett  Street  that  they 
are  asking  to  have  opened  u]).  The  grade  from  here  to  there  [indi- 
cating] is  very  much  less  than  from  here  up  to  this  point  [indicating], 
and  tliis  is  absolutely  too  narrow  to  take  care  of  the  traffic.  You 
will  be  surprised  at  the  amount  of  traffic  that  comes  over  through 
this  way:  and  when  they  come  up  here  [indicating]  they  have  to 
come  up  here,  and  come  up  here;  and  then  up  here  and  back  down 
this  way.  and  down  here  and  up  that  way  [indicating]  to  get  out. 

Senator  Xewlands.  Mr.  Chairman,  you  have  thus  far  heard  only 
from  Senator  Brady  and  myself;  and  the  citizens  who  live  near  that 
park  are  very  much  interested.     Would  you  hear  from  one  of  them? 

The  Chairman.  Certainly. 

STATEMENT  OF  J.  S.  TUFTS. 

Jklr.  Tufts.  I  do  not  know  that  I  could  add  anything  to  what  the 
other  gentlemen  have  said  in  regard  to  this;  but  the  inception  of  this 
movement  was  a  roadway  down  to  Klingle  Ford,  which  was  lined  on 
each  side  by  a  fence,  with  a  gate  at  each  end  with  a  lock  on  it.  All 
those  who  signed  the  original  petition  for  a  road  there  signed  it  in  one 
evening,  and  all  of  Cleveland  Park  want  that  roadway  down  there; 
and  I  do  not  know  of  any  single  individual  who  opposes  it.  The 
whole  hillside,  and  the  hillsides — and  there  are  several  of  them— and 
the  valleys,  too,  are  in  favor  of  the  proposition. 

STATEMENT  OF  MR.  J.  SPALDING  FLANNERY. 

Mr.  Flannery.  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  Mr.  Parmelee,  the 
owner  of  this  largest  tract  of  land  here  [indicating  on  map],  is  out  of 
the  city  at  this  time,  and  he  asked  me  to  appear  here  this  morning 
and  state  to  the  committee  that  this  park  plan  suggested  by  Col. 
Harts  and  Mr.  Langdon  is  very  satisfactory  to  him,  very  much  more 
so  than  the  plan  proposed  first — I  believe  by  the  District  Commis- 
sioners— because  this  will  take  less  land  and  cost  less  money,  for  one 
reason,  and  also  because  it  will  cause  less  injury  to  his  property  here. 
He  has  spent  a  great  deal  of  money  all  along  the  Klingle  Road  and 
down  in  the  Klingle  Valley,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Piatt,  one  of  the 
greatest  landscape  artists" in  the  country,  in  improving  the  approaches 
to  that  property,  and  he  has  spent  S3b,000  or  $40,000  in  building  a 
great  causeway^  from  which  his  place  takes  its  name,  and  the  ]>lan  of 
the  commissioners  would  destroy  that  causeway  and  take  a  large  ])art 
of  his  place  along  the  Klingle  Road  down  into  the  Klingle  Valley, 
whereas  this  plan  will  take  only  a  few  small  strips  of  land  which  he 
would  be  perfectly  willing  to  dedicate. 


374  DISTEICT    OF    COLUMBIA    APPROPRIATION    BILL,  1917. 

Mr,  Parmelee  is  also  unalterably  opposed  to  the  plan  of  filling  np 
this  lOingle  Valley.  He  thinks,  in  common  with  the  citizens  of  the 
District  and  the  commissioners,  that  the  approaches  from  one  of  these 
parks  to  the  other  through  that  valley  should  be  preserved;  that  the 
natural  l)eauty  should  be  preserved,  and  that  a  causeway  or  mound 
of  dirt  replacing  the  bridge  should  not  be  placed  across  that  valley, 
because  then  you  woidd  have  the  same  situation  as  there  is  on  Massa- 
chusetts Avenue,  where  in  building  the  bridge  they  filled  up  the  valley 
with  a  mound  of  dirt,  and  they  will  now  have  to  tunnel  through  that 
in  order  to  get  from  one  part  of  the  park  to  the  other,  to  avoid  going 
up  and  then  down  again.  You  will  have  the  same  position  here  as 
there  is  there,  if  you  lill  that  valley  in. 

Mr.  Parmelee  is  also  willing,  so  far  as  he  is  concerned,  that  a  build- 
ing limit  should  be  adopted  here  [indicating  on  map],  all  along;  or,  in 
other  words,  that  he  will  not  erect  any  building  along  this  front 
bordering  on  the  Klingle  Valley  road  as  established  by  the  plan  pro- 
posed by  Col.  Harts  and  Mr.  Langdon. 

SUPERINTENDENT  OF  TREES  AND  PARKING. 

STATEMENT  OF  HON.  THOMAS  STERLING,  A  SENATOR  FROM 
THE  STATE  OF  SOUTH  DAKOTA. 

Senator  Sterling.  I  wish  to  speak  to  the  committee  of  a  matter 
that  has  been  brought  to  my  attention,  of  the  salary  of  the  assistant 
superintendent  of  tree  planting — it  would  seem  that  that  is  his  official 
title  or  designation — here  in  the  District.  He  is  now,  I  think,  getting 
.$1,200  a  year.  I  think  that  is  a  place  where  the  man  should  have  at 
least  $1,500  a  year.  He  has  been  occupying  the  position  for  a  great 
many  years,  and  has,  I  think,  the  principal  work  of  superintending 
the  planting  of,  and  attending  to,  the  trees  planted  throughout  the 
District. 

Senator  Gallinger.  I  presume  you  know  that  his  salary  has  been 
increased  $150  in  the  House? 

Senator  Sterling.  That  was  in  the  House. 

Senator  Smith  of  Maryland.  You  want  his  salary  increased  to 
$1,500? 

Senator  Sterling.  I  think  it  should  be  increased  to  $1,500 
That  position  should  command  a  salary  of  at  least  $2,000,  I  should 
think,  and  considering  the  way  that  man  is  filling  it.  We  know 
what  jH-oportion  of  trees  grow  here  out  of  those  planted  and  how 
much  the  bejiuty  of  the  city  of  Washington  depends  u]Min  this  suc- 
cessful tree  planting  and  successful  tree  culture,  and  I  think  we  have 
a  master  hi  that  assistant  supermtendent — Lanham,  I  think,  is  his 
name — and  I  think  it  is  a  shame  that  his  salary  has  been  so  long  so 
low  as  it  is,  and  I  think  it  ought  to  be  increased  to  at  least  $1,500. 

At  this  moment,  I  think, "of  several  phices  in  new  subdivisions 
where  the  elm,  and  oak,  and  oriental  plane  trees  have  be<ni  planted, 
where  they  h- id  taken  all  the  soil  off  and  there  seemed  to  be  nothing 
left  but  clay  and  graved  to  ))l:int  in,  and  where,  neverth(dess,  those 
trees  are  growing  linely.  The  man  who  can  accomplish  that,  I 
think,  is  worth  more  than  $1,500. 

(At  12.15  o'clock  p.  m.  the  subcommittee  adjourned.) 


INDEX. 


A. 

Pas©. 

Adrianus.  J.  H. 314, 317 

Aged  and  Infirm,  Home  for 155 

Alienist : 

Clerk  to 131 

Increase  in  salary 131 

Asphalt  plant 59 

Aqueduct  Bridge 142 

Control  of (57 

Assessment  and  permit  work 49 

Assessor's  office 24 

Attorney's  fees 25 

B. 

Bacteriological  laboratory 123 

Barry  Farm  subdivision 53 

Bathing  Beach 91 

Blair.  Henry  P 170 

Altering,  remodeling,  and  removing  of  school  buildings 194 

Assistant  directors 174 

Assistant  superintendents 170 

Attendance  officers 171 

Books  of  reference 198 

Chief  clerk 170 

Contingent  expenses 198 

Dental  clinics 203 

Eastern  High  School 204 

Equipment  of  temporary  rooms 192 

Fuel,  gas,  etc 197 

Furniture,  purchase  and  repair  of 195 

High  school  cadets,  instruction  camp  for 201 

Janitors 179 

Labor,  additional 199 

Longevity  pay 176 

Matrons 186 

Medical  inspectors 188 

Night  schools 176 

Supplies  for 179 

Physics,  apparatus  for  department  of 20© 

Pianos,  purchase  of ItlS 

Playgrounds  and  vacation  schools 1 74 

Portable  schools,  removal  and  reerection IDS 

Primary  instruction,  assistant  director  of 1 74 

Principals  of  high  schools 171 

Rent  of  school  building 1 91 

Repairs  and  improvements li)3 

Rhode  Island  Avenue  School 205, 209 

School  buildings,  equipping  in  connection  with  social  center  and  civic 

work 202 

School  gardens,  material  and  labor  for 201 

Textbooks  for  high  schools 19^ 

Two  salaries  to  one  person 17^ 

Ungraded  classes,  care  of  building  for 1 87 

Vacation  schools 1 74 

Watchmen J  36 

375 


376  INDEX. 


Bonds  of  contmctors 60 

Bookkeeping  systems  in  the  District  of  Columbia 78 

Brady,  James  H 365,371 

Brandenburg.  Edwin  C 236 

Bright  wood  Citizens'  Association 269 

Brightwood  Police  Station 265,  275 

Brookland  School '. 349 

Brown,  Chapin 358 

Municipal  court 361 

National  Training  School  for  Girls 358 

Brownlow.  Louis: 

Assessor's  office 24 

Child-labor  law,  enforcement  of 32 

Dean  tract,  acquisition  of 137 

P'ire  department 113 

Fish  wharf  and  market 47 

Half-and-half  principle 6 

Insurance,  department  of 31 

Markets,  repairs  to 47 

Metropolitan  police 107 

Morgue  Building,  repair  of 41 

Police  jurisdictions  in  the  District  of  Columbia v 77 

Produce  market 28 

Register  of  wills,  office  of 43 

Tags  for  mot'ir  vehicles 45 

Vehicles,  maintenance  of 34 

Weights  and  measures,  office  of  superintendent 28,  57 

Buildings  and  grounds 98.  205 

Building-inspection  division 24 

Bundy.  Chas.  S 324 

C. 

Calvert  Street  Bridge 69,  277 

Canal  Road,  retaining  wall 141 

Central  garage 38 

Chappell,  John  W 264 

Charities,  Board  of 146 

(  lork,  salary  of ]  52 

Drivers,  salaries  of 153 

I  nspect  )r.  additional 153 

Motor  ambulance,  purchase  of ]  53 

Charities  and  corrections 152 

Chemical  laboratory 124 

Chevy  Chase,  improvements  in 341 

Child-caring  institutions 162 

Industrial  Home  School 163 

Industrial  Home  School  for  Colored  Cliildren 162 

Cliildren's  Hospital 157 

Child-labor  law,  enforcement  of 32 

Citzens'  Northwest  Suburban  Association 250 

Clagett.  Chas.  W 337 

Clayton,  William  McK 274 

Assessment  for  street  paving 274 

Illinois  Avenue 276 

Police  station  at  Brightwood 275 

Street  cleaners,  pav  of 274 

Coldren,  Fred  G ". «  279 

Colonua.  B .  A 324 

Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf 101,  330 

Columbia  Polytechnic  Institute 346 

Columbus,  Chas.  J 245 

Condemnation  of  small  park  areas 135 

Connecticut  Avenue  Citizens'  Association 277 

Contagious  diseases,  prevention  of 119 

Convicts,  support  of 132 

Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia 3 

Increase  in  salarv 22,  257 


INDEX.  377 

Paga. 

Cori^oration  counsel,  office  of 25 

Courts 131 

Crematory 125 

D. 

Darlington,  J.J 336 

Deaf,  Columbia  Institution  for 101 

Dean  tract,  acquisition  of 137,  279 

Brownlow,  Louis 137 

Bundy,  Chas.  S 324 

Coldren,  Fred  G 279 

Death  rate  in  the  District  of  Columbia 130 

De  Neale.  George  S 249 

Dowell.  Arthur  E 277 

Doyle.  Harold  E 369 

E. 

Eastern  High  School 204,  306 

East  Washington  Citizens'  Association 295,  314 

Eckington  School,  purchase  of  playground 309 

Edson.  John  Joy 146 

Electrical  department 94 

Emergency  Hospital 157 

Emmons.  Chas.  M 295 

Engineer  commissioner's  office 29 

Enrollment  of  the  National  Guard 142 

Erroneous  collections,  refund  of 133 

Executive  officer.  Public  Utilities  Commission 29 

F. 

Ferry 316 

Finch,  George  A 282 

Fisher.  Thos.  J.  &  Co 369 

Fish  wharf  and  market 47, 140 

Fire  department 113 

Miscellaneous 114 

Motor-driven  apparatus 115 

Flannery.  J.  S 373 

Fourteenth  Street,  widening 61, 220 

Free  Public  Library 33,  213 

Bowerman,  George  F 213 

Branch  in  Park  View  School 217 

Employees 217 

Matthews,  Henry  S 213 

Park  View  School,  branch  Library 217 

Salaries 214 

Sundav  opening 218 

Fultz,  Charles  E 309 

G. 

Garage,  central 38 

Garbage,  disposal  of.     Report  of  the  commissioners 90 

Gas  in  public  buildings,  cost  of 336 

Georgia  Avenue,  widening 62 

Georgetown  Universitv  Hospital 158 

Gordon,  Fulton  R. . . . '. .' 341 

Grading  streets,  alleys,  and  roads 54 

El- 
Half-and-half  principle: 

Adrianns,  J.  H 314 

Brandenburg,  Edwin  C 236 

Brownlow,  Louis 6 

Kutz,  (  has.  W 15 

Chappell,  John  W 261 

Lancaster,  Chas.  C 250 


278  INDEX. 

Half-and-half  principle— Continued.  Page. 

Newman,  Oliver  P 4 

Russell,  (has.  W 264 

Sinclair,  A.  Leftwich 244 

Tucker,  Evan  H 305 

Harts,  W.  W 365 

Haj-vey,  William  E 327 

(  ar  lickets 327 

Horses,  hire  of 328 

Lease  of  armory,  stable,  drill  shed,  and  warehouse 329 

I  ockers - - 328 

Ha.«hell  Produce  Market , 28 

Hazen.  M.  C 368 

Health  Department 116 

Health  Service: 

Additional  clerk 117 

Additional  sanitary  inspector 117 

Assistant  chief  food  inspector 118 

Assistant  chief  sanitary  inspector. . .'., 117 

Bacteriological  laboratory 123 

Bacteriologist,  pay  of 120 

Chemical  laboratory 124 

Contagious  diseases,  prevention  of 119 

Death  rate  in  the  District  of  Columbia 130 

Drainage  of  lots  and  abatement  of  nuisances 122 

Incinerator 122 

Laborers 118 

Medical  inspection  in  the  schools. 128 

Motor  ambulance 126 

Motor  wagon  for  pound  service 1 25 

Pound  and  stable,  alterations  at 1 27 

Poundmaster,  increase  in  salary 118 

Assistant " 119 

Public  crematory 125 

Repair  of  buildings  on  reservation  No.  13 121 

Heider.  f>ed.  J 344 

Hight,  Frank  S - .' 220 

Holidays  for  laborers -. If  5 

Home  for  the  Aged  and  Infirm... 155 

<  hapel.  erection  and  furnishing 156 

Electric  generators,  replacing. .......; ■. 156 

Piggery,  erection  of 156 

Repairs  and  improvements 155 

Sui)erintendent.  salary  of 155 

Illinois  Avenue,  im])rovement 276 

Indu-strial  Home  School  for  Colored  Children 162 

Barn,  erection  of 162 

Maintenance 163 

Industrial  Home  School 163 

Ingomar  Street,  improvements 344 

Insurance,  department  of 31 

Interest  and  sinking  fund 132 

J. 

James.  C.  J... 302 

Janitors,  public  schools 179 

Juvenile  court r  219 

Investigating  and  proliation  officers 219 

Messenger 219 

K. 

Klingle  Ford  Bridire 277 

Klingle  Ford  Valh^v  and  \\'oodlev  Road 363 

Brady.  James  H 365,  371 

Dovle.  Harold  E 369 


INDEX.  379 

Klinsle  Ford  Valley  and  Woodley  Road — Continued.  i''^ge- 

Fisher.  Thos.  J.  &  Co 3G9 

Flannerv,  J.  S :^73 

Harts.  \V.  W 3G5 

Hazen.  M.  C 368 

Newlands,  Francis  G 363,  368 

Tufts,  J.  S 373 

Kober.  George  M 146,  152 

Kutz,  Charles  W.: 

Aqueduct  Bridge H2 

Control  of 67 

Asphalt  plant 59 

Assessment  and  permit  work 49 

Authority  to  widen  streets,  alleys,  etc 60 

Barry  Farm  subdivision 53 

Buikling  inspection  division 24 

Canal  Road,  retaining  wall 141 

Contractors,  bonds  of 60 

Eastern  High  School 204 

Engineer  commissioner's  office 29 

Fish  wharf  and  market 139 

Fourteenth  Street,  widening  of 61 

Georgia  Avenue,  widening 62 

Grading,  streets,  alleys,  and  roads 54 

Half-and-half  principle 15 

Holidays  for  per  diem  and  day  laborers 145 

Lightiiig 94 

Motor  truck,  purchase  of 95 

Parking  commission 89 

Parks 135 

Playgrounds 92 

Public  convenience  stations 92 

Public  schools 98 

Public  Utilities  Commission 29,  30 

Refuse,  disposal  of 86 

Repair  shop 49 

Rhode  Island  Avenue,  improvement 55 

Rock  Creek  Park 97 

School  biuldings,  repairs  to 193 

Sewers T 81 

Sidewalks,  repair  of 63 

Specified  streets,  work  on 52 

Streets  and  avenues,  work  on 50 

Street-cleaning  division 31 

Suburban  roads,  repairs  to 61,62 

Surveys  of  old  subdi\dsions 47 

Vehicles,  maintenance  of 34 

Water  service 143 

Woodley  Road,  widening  of 58 

L. 

Lancaster,  Charles  C 250 

Belmont  Street,  grading  and  improvement 260 

Commis-sioners'  .salaries 257 

Half-and-half  principle 250 

Municipal  Hospital 258 

Paving,  assessment  for  streets 259 

Street  improvement 260 

Langdon  School 349 

Langdon-Woodridge  Citizens'  Association •'>49 

Latimer,  J.  Wilmer 219 

Librarv,  Free  Public 33 

Lighting 94 

Limitation  on  cost  of  automobile 36 

Lisner,  A 247 

Little  Falls  Road,  improvement 264 

Longfellow  Street,  improvement 268 

Lunacv,  writs  of 131 


380  INDEX. 

iVr.  Page. 

Macfarland.  Henry  B.  F 225 

McKehvay.  A.J 321 

National  Training  Schools  for  Girls 322 

Madison  Street,  improvement 265 

Maintenance  of  vehicles  for  empJoyees 34 

Market,  change  of  name 28 

Markets,  repairs  to 47 

Massachusetts  Avenue,  extension 331 

Matrons,  public  schools 186 

Matthews.  Henry  S 213 

Medical  charities 157 

Cliildren's  Hospital 157 

Emergency  Hospital 157 

Georgetown  University  Hospital 158 

Municipal  Hospital 162 

Tuberculosis  Hospital 159 

Medical  inspection  in  the  schools 128 

Medical  inspectors,  public  schools 188 

Metropolitan  police 107 

Increase  in  number  and  pay  of  officers 107 

Miscellaneous 113 

!Mid-(  'ity  Citizens'  Association 303 

Militia  of  the  District  of  Columbia 327 

Car  tickets 327 

Horses,  hire  of 328 

Lease  of  armory,  stable,  drill  shed,  and  warehouse  for  militia 329 

Lockers ! 328 

Monday  Evening  Club 321 

Montague  Street,  improvement 265 

Morgue  Building,  repair  of 41 

Motor  truck,  purchase  of 95 

Mount  Pleasant  Citizens'  Association 279 

Municipal  court 361 

Municipal  Hospital 146 

East  Washington  Citizens'  Association 295 

Emmons,  Chas.  M 295 

Finch,  George  A 282 

Lancaster,  Chas.  C 258 

McKelway,  J.  H 321 

Newman,  Oliver  P 149 

Petworth  Citizens'  Association 298,  302 

Piney  Branch  Citizens'  Association 295 

Suter,  Jesse  C 298 

Tucker,  Evan  H 309 

N. 

National  Guard ,  enrollment  of 142 

National  Training  School  for  Girls 156,  322,  358 

Newlands,  Francis  G 363,  368 

NeAvman,  Oliver  P 3 

Alienist,  salary  of 131 

Assessor's  office 25 

Bathing  beach 91 

Bookkeeping  systems 78 

Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf 101 

Convicts,  support  of 132 

Corporation  counsel,  office  of >-      26 

Courts 131 

Enrollment  of  the  National  Guard 142 

Erroneous  collections,  refund  of 133 

Executive  office 22 

Free  Public  Library 33 

Half-and-half  principle 4 

Interest  and  sinking  fund 132 

Lunacy,  writs  of. 131 


INDEX.  381 

Newman,  Oliver  P. — Continued.  I'age. 

Minor  streets  and  alleys 64 

Municipal  hospital 149 

Parks 136 

Playgrounds 92 

Register  of  wills,  office  of 43 

Reports  of  commissioners,  printing  of 1 43 

Rliode  Island  Avenue  School 205 

Tags  for  motor  veliicles 45 

\'ehicles,  maintenance  of 34 

Workhouse 165 

Nigh ,  J .  N 349 

Ninth  Street,  improvement 205 

Northwest  Suburban  Citizens'  Association 250,  261,  341 ,  344 

P. 

Parking  commission 89 

Parks 135 

Patterson  tract,  purchase  of 305 

Paving  streets,  assessments  for 259 

Clayton,  William  McK 274 

Russell,  Charles  W .- 267 

Tucker,  Evan  H 308 

Petworth  Citizens'  Association 298,  302 

Petworth  School 325 

Piney  Branch  Citizens'  Association 282 

Playgrounds 92 

Police  jurisdiction 77 

Police  station,  Brightwood 275 

Portland  Street,  grading 332 

Poundmaster,  increase  in  salary 118 

Principals  of  high  schools 173 

Proctor,  James  M 282 

Public  convenience  stations 92 

Public  schools 170 

Altering,  remodeling,  and  removing  of  school  buildings 194 

Assembly  halls 100 

Assistant  directors 1 74 

Assistant  superintendents 170 

Attendance  officers 171 

Books  of  reference 198 

Buildings  and  grounds 98,  205 

Cadets,  instruction  camp  for 201 

Chief  clerk 170 

Contingent  expenses 198 

Dental'  clinics • 203 

Eastern  High  School 204,  306 

Fuel,  gas,  etc 197 

Furniture,  purchase  and  repair  of 195 

Gardens,  material  and  labor  for 201 

Janitors 179 

Labor,  additional 199 

Longevity  pay 1 76 

Matrons. 186 

Medical  inspectors 188 

Night  schools 176 

Supplies  for 179 

Payment  of  two  salaries  to  one  person 178 

Physics,  apparatus  for  department  of 200 

Pianos,  purchase  of 198 

Playgrounds  and  vacation  schools 174 

Portable  schools,  removal  and  reerection  of 1 95 

Primary  instruction,  assistant  director  of 174 

Principals  of  high  schools 171 

Rent  of  school  building 191 

Repairs  and  improvements 98, 193 

Rhode  Island  Avenue  School 205,  209 


382  INDEX. 

Public  schools — Continued.  Page. 
School  buildings,  eqiiipping  in  connection  with  ci\dc  and  social  center 

work 202 

Temporarj-  rooms,  equipment  of 192 

Textbooks  for  high  schools 199 

Ungraded  classes,  care  of  building  for 187 

\'acation  schools 174 

Watchmen 186 

Public  Utilities  Commission 29 

Duties  of  members 30 

Executive  officer 29 

Q. 

Quackenboss  Street,  Improvement 269 

R. 

Reformatories  and  correctional  institutions 153 

Refuse,  disposal  of 86 

Register  of  wills,  office  of 43 

Rent  of  vault  space  under  sidewalks 245 

Reports  of  commissioners,  printing  of 143 

Retail  Merchants'  Association 245 

Retaining  wall,  Canal  Road 141 

Rhode  Island  Avenue,  improvement 55 

Rhode  Island  Avenue  School 205,  209,  310 

Rock  Creek  Park 97 

Robinson,  W.  H 181 

Russell,  Chas.  W 264 

Assessment  of  benefits 267 

Federation  of  Citizens'  Associations 274 

Longfellow  Street 268 

Madison  Street 267 

Montague  Street,  improvement 265 

Ninth  Street 267 

Police  station  at  Brightwood 265 

Quackenboss  Street ." 269 

Sixteenth  Street 265 

S. 

Salaries  of  the  commissioners 22 

School  buildings: 

Altering,  etc 194 

Furniture  for , 195, 196 

Pianos  for 198 

Removal  and  reerection  of  portable 195 

Rent  of 191 

Repairs  and  improvements 193 

Secretary  to  the  commission,  salary  of 22 

Seventh  Street,  improvement ." 303 

Sewers 81 

Shafroth,  John  F 330 

Shoemaker,  Louis  P 269 

Sluvve,  Chas 303 

Sidewalks,  repair  of 63 

Sinclair,  A.  Leftwich 244 

Sixteenth  Street,  grading ''265 

Sixth  school  division,  new  building 307 

Social-center  work,  equipping  school  buildings  for 202 

Sterling,  Thos 374 

Street  cleaners,  pay  of 274 

Street-cleaning  division 31 

Streets  and  alleys,  authority  to  open,  extend,  and  widen 60 

Opening  of  minor 64 

Streets  and  avenues,  work  on 50 

Storehouse  in  square  857 308 


INDEX.     •  383 

Page. 

Suburban  roads,  repairs  to .*. 61 

Suter.  Jesse  C 298,  325 

Surveys  of  old  subdivisions 47 

Swan,"  Robert  W 346 

T. 

Tags  for  motor  vehicles 45 

Tax  rate  in  the  District  of  Columbia. .• 10 

Telephones. 40 

Thurston.  Ernest  L. .............. .- .-....• 177.  198 

Tinkham.  George  Holden -. • ■ 315 

Torbert.  William  S ■. .-..-. .-. . . .-. 310 

Transportation,  allowances  for. .-..-. 23 

Trees  and  i)arking.  salary  of  superintendent  of 374 

Tuberculosis  Hospital . . 159 

Assistant  resident  physician ■ 159 

Buildings,  erection  of 161 

Maintenance 161 

Per  capita  cost  of  patients 159 

Roentgenologist. 160 

X  rav  machine!  piircTiase  bf.'.'..".". .'. .'.".".'.'.".'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'."."..' 161 

Tucker,  Evan  H 305 

District  storehouse  in  square  857 308 

Eastern  High  School 306 

Patterson  tract 305 

Sixth  school  division,  new  building 307 

Tufts.  J.  S ^ 373 

V. 

Vault-space  under  sidewalks,  rent  of 245 

Columbus.  Chas.  J 245 

De  Neale,  George  S 249 

Lisner.  A 247 

Vehicles  for  employees,  maintenance  of 34 

W. 

Warner.  B.  H 331 

Massachusetts  Avenue 331 

Portland  Street 332 

Washington  Asylum  and  .lail 153 

Dietician 154 

Maintenance 154 

Prisoners,  support  of 154 

Washington  Board  of  Trade 236 

Washington  Chamber  of  Commerce 244 

Washington  Gas  light  Co 336 

Watchmen,  public  schools 186 

Water  ser^ice 143 

Weights  and  measures,  olhce  of  superintendent 28 

Clerk,  salary  of 57 

Willard  Hofel 220 

Wilson.  George  S 146 

Charities.  Board  of 152 

Child-caring  ins  itutione 162 

Children's  Hospital 157 

Emergency  Hospital 157 

George  Washington  University  Hospital 158 

Home  for  the  Aged  and  Iniimi 155 

Industrial  Home  School 163 

Industrial  Home  School  for  Colored  Children 162 

Medical  charities 157 

Municipal  Hospital 162 

National  Training  School  for  Girls 156 

Reformatories  and  correctional  institutions 153 


384  INDEX. 

Wilson,  George  S. — Continued.  Page. 

Tuberculosis  Hospital 159 

Washington  Asylum  and  Jail 153 

Workhouse 164 

Woodley  Road  and  Klingle  Valley 363 

Brady,  James  H 365,  371 

Doyle,  Harold  E 369 

Fisher,  Thos.  J..  &  Co 369 

Flannerj',  J.  S 373 

Harts,  W.  W 365 

Hazen,  M.  C 368 

Newlands,  Francis  G 363,  368 

Tufts,  J.  S 373 

Woodward,  Dr.  S.  W 116 

Workhouse 164 

Dairy  and  forage  building 164 

Maintenance 165 

Superintendence 164 

Superintendent,  additional  to  as  superintendent  of  reformatory 164 

Y. 
Yowell,  A.  J 256,258,259 

O 


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